Not Again "My body's a write off but I'm all right"

by Richard von Hippel, Iris Ann Cullimore, Peter Makem (Editor)

'One courageous woman'

This true life story of one courageous woman demonstrates the awe inspiring strength and resilience of the human spirit, in the face of what to many of us would seem to be insurmountable adversities.

Born into a better off than average 1950s home, with strict but loving parents Iris was a tough, independant and adventurous child until the age of eleven years, when her childhood was shattered by a brutal sexual assault that seems to have triggered a chain of disastrous events.

Over many years Iris somehow managed to survive forced teenage marriage, domestic violence, brain haemorrhage, Cancer and much, much more.

Dogged by disaster after disaster Iris nonetheless perseveres with astonishing resilience, snatching fun and laughter at every opportunity, making her story a powerful source of hope and inspiration.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2012

Reviews

[Nia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Children should be seen and not heard" -how many children, and how much of our society, due to lost human potential, have suffered from this idea?
Too many.

I am giving this very important book a compromise rating: This book and the gentleman who authored it deserve the highest rating, for having the courage and the persistance to write a story that needs to be heard, thus it deserves a 5.
But, because, as someone battling C-PTSD for the past 20 years, I thought I could read it, but I can't, at least not in my native language, I did not finish it, and so I cannot give it more than a 3.
Therefore, due to my own failure, this highly readable (for, perhaps, those not working through CSA issues) and extremely important book gets a 4 from me, and my urgent request that others will read and try to
1. understand the issues in our larger society that lead to these sorts of abuses of children, and
2. work toward changing our attitudes and our culture such that we recognize the vulnerability and value of every child.
Shira
1st December, 12015 HE

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Not Again” by Richard Von Hippel tells the true story of Iris, a young woman setting out in life in her city. It is a story superbly told, devoid of any sense of pity or sense of sanitising the reality of her struggle, as the author shapes an heroic figure out of a pathetic existence. In many ways, it is as if the paintings of Lowrie came alive and the figures went off to their various homes and vanished into the hidden flow of life.

Iris Ann Stewart was born into a better off than average family in 1951 at St Lukes Hospital, Bradford, West Yorkshire and enjoyed a happy early childhood until she was sexually assaulted at the age of eleven.

This incident marked the beginning of a life of such incredible misfortune and bad luck that by the time she met her therapist in 2005, she’d survived being stalked by her violent ex-fiancé, a teenage pregnancy, being disowned by her father, forced into marrying a violent, alcoholic, gambling addict, the premature death of her mother from a burst aneurysm (brain haemorrhage), a second violently abusive marriage to a man who was later imprisoned for tying up a prostitute with wire before raping her at knifepoint, long term disability from her own burst aneurysm, multiple strokes, seizures, a tumour on the bowel and if it hadn't been for the doctors and surgeons who helped she would have lost her left foot, left leg and her life.

Yet, for each devastating life crash that would have destroyed a lesser spirit the iron will of Iris Ann Cullimore drags her damaged but undaunted from the wreckage and sends her bravely onward, with her zest for life, fun and laughter undiminished.

But the key to the originality of this book is not in the series of events, appalling as they are, or in the raw courage of Iris. It is in their presentation, as if this volcano of disaster was a norm of daily life behind closed doors, a suppressed tale of everyday struggle, that human existence is closer to the Book of Job than we imagine or let ourselves believe.

The Author does not get personally involved. He imposes no moral code or moral inference. His approach is purely and powerfully descriptive. This leaves the reader with the strange and often overwhelming sense of the impassiveness and indifference of fate- or the heavens- in the face of human plight.

Her message to you, is that as long as you keep on fighting and as long as you seize every opportunity for fun and laughter - no matter how brief - you may be damaged but you can never be beaten.”

NOT AGAIN exposes the sheer plight, suffering and courage of ordinary people that society conventionally tries to hide and deny.

This is a rare book. It is difficult to find an equivalent work. It is one whose echoes will remain somewhere in the deep of the mind long after the reader finishes the last page.

Review by Peter Makem, Editor, Journalist and Poet

Background to NOT AGAIN: http://askdavid.com/reviews/book/insp...

an autobiography , biography , memoir , books for women , books about women , books about inspirational women , courageous women

[June Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have given this book five stars based on the quality of the writing. The author (Not the character of the story- it is bio, not autobio) comes across as an educated, skilful communicator with a great sense of compassion. That is why I am focusing more on the technique of writing rather than the storyline. This doesn't suggest there is anything wrong with the story, it is just not the type that I usually read (I'm very into history and war stories). So this a difficult review for me to honestly write. It is a story of one woman's courage which I'm sure will be helpful to many. She was a battered woman and while I have great sympathy for women in such circumstances, I have never been able to put myself in their place. We are all different. My one complaint; I wish she had broken out and stood on her own two feet sooner.

[Paula Liebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in one breath. This memoir recounts the extra-ordinary life of Iris who receives such an unbelievable amount of sexual and physical abuse, topped of by a string of physical ailments and accidents, that you can only be in awe with her resilience, sense of humor and good-natured heart. The only reason why I'm not giving this book a 5-star review is, although it's pleasantly written, the writing didn't enchant me like some memoirs have done. I could hear Iris' voice in some parts of the book, but there were many parts were I found the writing simply descriptive. Overall, I was missing Iris' deeper emotions and intimate thoughts to her decisions and actions, something that I'm always looking for in a memoir. Maybe that is caused by the fact that Iris is not the author. Still, an inspirational read.

[Leila Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. This is a truly amazing story about the life of Iris, a courageous woman who must have the worst luck and yet the best luck all at the same time. Through disaster after disaster, Iris perseveres, and somehow manages to find the strength to carry on regardless, even laughing and having fun whenever she can. Her resilience is mind-boggling and one can only stand back in awe. I commend Iris for telling her incredible story and Richard von Hippel, for writing it down. I found it extremely inspirational.

[Specs&Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read - check out my review over at www.specsandginger.wordpress.com