Abused -- A Daughter's Story

by L.L. Bartlett

Emily Miller knew her life was about to change forever the day her mother said, "I'm pregnant." She'd hear those words again and again--and with every pregnancy Emily's father changed from bad to worse. For years the Miller family suffered through his rages. It took a terrible loss for the family to regroup, and all the love Emily can muster to save her siblings. Bartlett's powerful short story, " A Daughter’s Story," grabs hold immediately and doesn't let go. This heart-tugger's hero, Emily, displays amazing resilience and strength. I know I'll remember this story for a long, long time. --Julie Hyzy, Barry- and Anthony-award winning author of the White House Chef Mysteries L.L Bartlett is a New York Times bestselling author who writes the Jeff Resnick Mysteries, which Booklist has called "Gripping!"

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

36 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2010

About the author

The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorraine Bartlett’s pen name Lorna Barrett on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent -- whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett -- that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square and Lotus Bay Mystery series, and now the Tales of Telenia fantasy saga, and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s). Check out the descriptions and links to all her works here: http://www.LLBartlett.com

Reviews

[Carol Wilkowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing.

I chose this rating because it almost reminds me of the way that I was raised. Takes me a long time to forgive but I don't forget, ANYTHING!!!!!!!!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good but heartrending story of abuse from the point of view of the oldest duaghter of a household. As she saw it and lived it. An alcoholic father and a mother who felt she needed a husband at all costs.

[Lori Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overrated!

While the story line was good and I felt for the kids, I personally fail to see much "abuse" going on in their lives. Helping out in the home you live in should not be considered abuse, nor should helping out with your siblings. It's all about life's lessons. Granted the mother let the father abuse her some by not standing up to him.

[Janet Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Success at last

A horrible beginning to a happy ending for 5 of the children
With each story that I read It surprises me that NO DCF was involved. It saddens me that those 5 kids went through so much turmoil in there lives.

[Odette Linnane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy read

This was a good read. I feel for the children, no one should ever have to live like that. A quick read, straight forward. If your looking for a true story that's a quick read, then this book will be ideal

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad story

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book so sad how can people be like that to inocent children

[susan miner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a book

Seriously, this is more of a short story than a book. Good for what it is, but no book. Sorry!

[Tammy Brownell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sad short story of someone’s life .. shocking how vile people can be ...

[julie hookey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short read

As the title. Good short story. True facts brought to life on paper wanted more but a good read. Recommend

[wendy brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant x

An excellent read, just finished work Sat down with a coffee and couldn't stop reading, great short story, highly recommend.

[Travis James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

Five *****'s for this novel. It gets right to the point and there's absolutely no filler to it which I very much liked!

[Rosalind Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story

This was a story that brought back memories in my own life. I know, all to well what Emily went through.
The story was sad, but the outcome was great.

[Allisha Derbyshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short fast read. Sad story but happy ending. Glad she got to break the cycle

[BETTY lucero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Very nice short story. Good enough to read right before bed. Not too long and not too short. Perfect for a bedtime story 😴

[Trent Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abuse is always A sad story.

The story flows we!l, there could have been more information given . No one should suffer at the hands of another.

[jeanie c. riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marriage failure!

Father beats mother and unable to be parent! Older daughter takes care of siblings! Children really have no loving family! Sad story!

[Jes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short ,sweet and sad loved it!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Just wow that is such a hard thing to go through I don't know if I would have been able to deal with that

[Milly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sad short story. Sadly a very typical family model in many cases - no one will understand until it happens to them.
I'm glad there was some sort of a happy ending

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book is stated to be fiction I was given the impression that this was based on a true story. It was sort of a novella. It gave a good gloss over of what was a horrible childhood with domestic violence, alcohol abuse or addiction (not clear which it was), abortion, and more. This main character had the task of raising her siblings as her mother's helper as her mother kept having children and had her hands too full. The father was abusive physically to her mother and mentally to the children. I found myself wanting more in depth, emotional information. How did the author feel having gone through what she did? I would like to know more. I think it is a good start but needs more depth.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick read. It details the experience of a young lady who has worked hard to protect her siblings, and her mother, from their abusive father. As life gets harder and babies keep coming, this young lady finds that she has to make some decisions that no teenager should ever have to make. Her siblings' lives are in turmoil, and she sees the damage that their family situation is causing. While she wants to walk away, the young lady has to weigh the costs...

While short and without much detail, this book quickly gets to the heart of a story so many families live on a daily basis. It is an easy read with a few errors, but not so many as to distract from the story.

[Crystal Johnston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Super short and to the point. Likely comes from personal history seeing as there was no drawn out explanation of any action and the main character almost repeated her own mother's history and created the cycle again by having sex too early in life because she was seeking the love and approval she never got at home. I would skip this (but I did breeze through it in under an hour that is how short it is). I didn't get any new insight from this book that made me look at the world any differently; this is a story much like many others.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is a good example of the recent trend toward self-publication. Ms. Bartlett has the ability to tell her story clearly and, like many stories in this vein, could have been a very good book. It's too bad she didn't take the time to flush out the story to make it a full length novel. This is what an editor and publishing company are for.

Overall it was an OK novella. Two stars seems a little harsh. But such is the Goodreads rating system.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very short story, seemed like it was written by a teenager. A LONG time ago when I was a pre-teen I used to sneak and read a magazine called True Story. This book was written like it belonged in one of those magazines. And the girl herself was not abused (physically, anyway), but her mother was terribly abused.

[Rhonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read. Very short and it took bout 15 minutes for me to read. It was a story that looked as if there was abuse in the home, the wife was certainly battered and the children mistreated by the father but there wasn't much detail that went into this. A friend loaned this title to me and I have to say I wouldn't pay the 99 cents for it.

[Jima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short story. It definitely highlights the major outcomes of child abuse and post trauma of that abuse. Would have been better as a full novel with detailed events as some bits were very gripping.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is told from a daughters point of view. It is a story of an abused mother and her children who were victims of the situation. It was uplifting to see how the children broke the cycle of abuse.

[Julie scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a short story this is a very powerful story. I loved this gripping altho heart renching novel abt a family suffering at the hands of their evil father.its a very quick read but a great read that pulls at your heart strings❤❤❤

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short and oddly written.