by Eleanor O'Donnell

Created on: August 03, 2009   Last Updated: August 05, 2009

Scarred by Sophie Andrews was certainly an interesting read, though I wouldn't rate it terribly highly over all I'm afraid. First published in 2008, Scarred tells the story of an abused woman breaking free and going her own way in life. It's a journey of harrowing childhood sexual abuse, coupled with a good deal of self-exploration and an element of moving on.

To begin with, the book makes for a gripping read. I winced in almost real physical pain as I read the descriptive and all too disturbing passages that detailed the humiliating and brutal sexual attacks made on Sophie by her 'doting Daddy'. I felt sick to my stomach as I followed her journey and discovered the horrific extent of the abuse which Sophie was forced to endure. As the story unfolded, and Sophie came to realise that she couldn't live under the circumstances she'd been raised to endure, the really difficult reading began. Time and again we, the reader, are forced to re-live Sophie going back to her Dad again and again. The outside help that Sophie periodically turns to, the Samaritans, is no longer an option to those presently experiencing similar situations; and the end result wasn't that Sophie saw the light, simply that she broke away.

I didn't feel that this was a life story that made any real revelations or progress. Sophie got away from the physical abuse in the end, but I read no indication that she truly emotionally healed or even particularly moved on from her experiences. To the contrary, she wound up working for the Samaritans - an organisation which is no longer able to provide people in similar situations with any kind of actual support. During Sophie's time of abuse, the Samaritans were on hand to offer advice and physical support; now they are only an anonymous voice at the end of the phone who will listen if no-one else will.

The way in which the book was written was perfectly readable, and a credit to a girl who'd had very little formal education in fact. But there's nothing to be gained from this book, save for a sense of horror that a young girl could be exposed to such cruel and barbaric sexual practices. I didn't feel that Sophie had really understood and dealt with the emotional problems life had served her, neither had she truly moved on and made something of herself away from the abuse. All Sophie the adult seems to be is a survivor of childhood abuse. There's more to life than surviving, I only wish the book had included a little about Sophie going on to truly live.

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