Broken Child

by Marcia Cameron

Book Overview

What happens when a child is forced to endure the unendurable? This book tells the story of a childhood of abuse that led Marcia to develop alternate personalities ranging from the promiscuous Emily... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821748262
• ISBN13: 9780821748268
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Length: 396 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Love books by Marcia Cameron

Disappointed. Book I purchased had a front cover . Book I got had none.

Definitely a disturbing story, but yet very good

I discovered The Broken Child when I was in the 11th grade, and I started it and was shocked that this woman went through these trials with her mother. It is a autobiography about a woman who's mother was racist against her own daughter; she hated her from child birth. She would not even look at her own daughter because her mom was anti-semantic. She said this when she first saw her "That is not my child, that is a Jewish child!" Her mother abused her beyond anything I have ever heard of; she pumped a broom stick into her vagaina while screaming "Now I am going to teach how to use your Jewish c*nt!" She was locked in a closet while her father worked, and her mother abused her whenever she got the chance, but when her father was at home, she treated her like she was a princess. While in the closet, she developed split-personalities and became these personalities when she was put in there, and she saw them as her friends. Eventually she told the truth to her father, and her father divorced her and got joint custody of her and her brothers who were not abused as her. Then her father died in a plane accident and she had to go live back with her mother. As she got older, her mother eventually died, but she left her with emotional scars and physical scars. One of her personalities named Lucy was a s*ut; she would go out every night (her personalities), and would have sex with men she just met, then she would wake up wondering where she was and discovered semen between her legs, and would cry her eyes out. Eventually she got married, but when she was touched a certain way; she would freeze up like a statue because it remined her of the past. She had kids, but she still had the mental scars with her. She then got some help, but she discovered new memories that she never thought she had, and this made her more depressed and almost on the verge of suicide. As she got older, she then realized that she had to get over this, so she got more help and eventually got rid of the personalities and discovered her surroundings; her kids, her husband, and she found a new lease on life, and she discovered how to live life without the scars still on her mind. I am sorry if I offended anybody, but what I said in this book is explained in this novel. This novel has changed my life forever, and it should be read with a open mind, and also it makes you think that this woman went through this, but yet she was able to come up in the world and to have a family of her own. It can be very inspirational but yet VERY sad.

KEEPING IT TOGETHER

Marcia Cameron, a San Francisco native describes life with her psychotic, dangerously cruel mother. Marcia's mother beats her, starves her and on one memorable occasion, knocks the 9-year-old's front teeth out with a hammer. She threatens to give Marcia away to "the gypsies;" she enlists the aid of her sons to further demean their sister.Marcia masters the art of disassociating; she fragments herself into several distinct personalities to cope with her mother's special brand of torture. These personalities are different ages and some are even male. One personality, called Camille is blind. They each have specific roles to play and specific duties to fulfill. Like many persons suffering from DID/MPD, Marcia is artistically gifted. She makes an impressive showing despite her "loss of time" in school and even functions as a wife and mother. As her behavior becomes more erratic and time more elusive and questionable, Marcia finally seeks help. It is through her hard work and her therapist's dedication that she finally conquers the demons of her childhood. She is somewhat infantile during therapy; she envisions herself approximately half the doctor's height and turns him into a father figure. She becomes quite dependent upon her doctor and it is to his credit that he keeps the sessions on a professional level. One can speculate that Marcia is going through a symbolic "rebirth," or "renaissance" in treatment because her own real life was so horrendous.This is a book about hope, loving and healing. It is a Pandora's box that reveals HOPE tucked away at its very bottom.I highly recommend it.

A true story of hope

I read this book and could hardly put it down. It has been a great inspiration for me. I think it is a true proof of how powerful and helpful psychotherapy can be. It sheds light on the psychological trauma endured due to child abuse. It is a book that touches you deep in the heart. I thank the author for sharing with us her experience that is and always will be of hope to so many people.

A soul wrenching account of a child's life in hell

This book is an extremely vivid account of a child living under impossible circumstances. Some of the abuses she had to endure were so horrible I had to look away from the words and take a breath before I could continue. How the human soul can survive abuses this extreme is a question I would ponder as I read this and other books of child abuse. What must it be like to be a child of two or three and receive little to no nurturing and still fight to survive? This is a rivoting book. I