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.
Nicola Pierce published her first book for children, Spirit of the Titanic, to rave reviews and five printings within its first twelve months. City of Fate, her second book, transported the reader deep into the Russian city of Stalingrad during World War II. The novel was shortlisted for the Warwickshire School Library Service Award, 2014. Nicola went on to bring seventeenth-century Ireland vividly to life in Behind the Walls (2015), a rich emotional novel set in the besieged city of Derry in 1689, followed by Kings of the Boyne (2016), a moving and gritty account capturing the Battle of the Boyne (1690), which was shortlisted for the Library Association of Ireland (LAI) awards. In 2018 Nicola delved in to the true stories of the passengers, crew and the legacy of the fated ship Titanic, in her illustrated book of the same name. To read more about Nicola, go to her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Nicola Pierce-Author and on Twitter @NicolaPierce3.
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
gripping read ! Heartbreaking story that really touched me... strongly recommend this book not for the faint hearted though!
Peter Fagan on 18th September 2012
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
Mary Costello on 30th May 2011
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 hu
Tracy Whitehead on 20th May 2011
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 d
Seaneen on 14th March 2011
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 wi
Linda on 13th January 2011
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 cou
Jason McCarthy on 16th August 2010
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.
Mary Clemenger MSc, BSc(Hons), DipHEd, RGN on 8th April 2010
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British edition cover
