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Biography/Memoir
True Crime
Book Details:
Price:
€11.99
Binding: pb
Pages: 256
Size: 196 x 130mm
ISBN-10 1-84717-143-5
ISBN-13 978-1-84717-143-6
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Rights held:
World, all languages.
Rights sold:
Great Britain
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Kenneth and Patrick Doyle grew up in a family of nine children in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Though the home was dysfunctional and all the children suffered at the hands of their parents, Kenneth and Patrick were singled out for horrific abuse at the hands of their mother.
Starved, beaten and sent out to steal, their story is a catalogue of abuse. It also implicates the authorities, who had pages upon pages of reports on their situation, and yet never stepped in.
Fergus Finlay of Barnardos talked about the book in a recent Drivetime radio column (RTE1 radio), saying
'I haven't been able to sleep for the past few nights. I've been reading the story of Ken Doyle, his brother Patrick, and their mother Olive. The story is in a book, written by Ken and Patrick together, and only just published. It's a short book - you'll easy read it in a few sittings - and I guarantee you'll never forget it.'
You can read the whole column here.
Cover Gallery: other covers for this book
Praise for Mother from Hell
'uniquely horrifying' Books Ireland
'readers should steel themselves …' Sunday Tribune
'I guarantee you will never forget it. The story of Ken and Patrick Doyle has to be read' Fergus Finlay, Barnardos
Reader reviews
'I found this book heartbreaking. To think what Ken & Patrick went through at the hands of their mother is just beyond belief. How they survived and lived to tell their story is a credit to them both. They were let down by the whole system in Ireland and this book should be used to highlight how the system fails abused children. Lessons have to be learned if this kind of abuse is to be stopped, otherwise nothing will change. Ken and Patrick's story is not an isolated case by any means, the reality is abuse is widespread and children continue to be abused today. This book brought tears to my eyes. I felt I was living through what these boys were going through and to think that Olive continues to live in Tullamore unpunished by a system that fails children over and over again! Shame, shame, shame on the Irish Government, the HSE, the Gardai and all who knew what was going on and turned a blind eye…' Mary Costello
'Once I picked this book up, I couldn't put it down. I read it in one day. This wasn't because it was a gripping read (it was a great read), it was because I could not believe what a mother could do to her own children - babies. How on this earth can a human being, not that I believe she was, do that to a child? Her own child at that. I wish I was there to have helped those boys. Both Patrick and Kenny are amazing men. They have gone through so much and got through it - not without problems but they got through. I hope that one day they can look back and be proud they never gave in and let Olive win' Tracy Whitehead
'How can a mother be so evil? It is an absolute disgrace that Olive Doyle is still walking the streets unpunished for the horrific abuse on her two sons Patrick and Kenny. How did these two boys survive such cruelty? I have been thinking about them for days after reading their story and every time I do I can't help but cry. I hope their story helps other victims and sheds some insight into the serious topic of child abuse. I wish Patrick and Kenny all the luck in the world,for they surely deserve it after everything they have endured at the sadistic hands of that monster Olive Doyle' Seaneen
'All the time whilst reading the book, I just couldn't believe how a mother could do this, how a person could thrive on torturing two of her own children. I can't stop thinking about Ken and Patrick and how they managed to live through it. My eyes fill with tears everytime they cross my mind. I have decided to stop thinking about fostering but to get things moving' Linda
'I thoroughly enjoyed this book if that is the right description seeing that it is so sad. What I really mean is that I was captivated by its real life content, the brutality and what two little boys had to go through just to survive. I found that I could visualise Patrick and Ken as children which made their story of an abusive childhood all the more personal. It’s not often that a tear comes to my eye when reading a book but this story of survival put a lump in my throat. I highly recommend this book' Jason McCarthy
'I could not leave this book down and read it over 2 evenings. A heart wrenching story and the survival skills of Ken and Patrick are very rare indeed. It is one thing to be abused by a stranger - it is entirely different to be abused by ones own mother. I have told many friends about your story and your book - the general public need to know how poorly our health, social and legal services are actually managed in Ireland. I still believe that this same abuse could happen today in 2010. What a shame on Irish society - land of saints and scholars - I don't think so' Mary Clemenger MSc, BSc(Hons), DipHEd, RGN
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