Not a Proper Child: A True Story of Abuse, Violence and Survival Against the Odds Book

A dark and exceptional true story, about a woman's struggle to survive a bleak and abusive young life. The story begins when Nicky encounters the Moors Murderer, Myra Hindley, in Risley remand centre in 1965. The brief meeting of these two young women, who are in some ways similar, resonates through Nicky's story as an experience of the darkness into which a human life can descend and her own resolve, whatever she has faced, to make a different choice. Left as a newborn in a box outside Stoke City Football ground, her grandparents took her into their home. But instead of finding a sanctuary, Nicky was subjected to horrific sexual abuse through her childhood. In 1951, when Nicky was six years old, her glamorous-looking estranged mother arrived on the doorstep to `rescue' her and take her to London to live with her new family. But Nicky's hopes of a safe and loving life were very soon smashed, and her world became darker still... Nicky spent years as a homeless alcoholic, living on the street, in and out of prison before eventually finding a new way forward through her love of art. Now an internationally renowned London artist, hers is a compelling story, carried along by her rare spirit of survival against the odds. This book tells the details of an extraordinary woman's rise from the horror of a deeply damaging childhood to a new, creative and independent life. Her story is one of hope, for herself and for other abused children.Read More