By Sheree Osborne
Authentic Media. 220 pages
ISBN 1 86024 557 9
This is an account of physical, mental and sexual abuse suffered by the author and of her eventual conversion and recovery.
It is billed as ‘a victorious testimony of hope over hopelessness, of forgiveness over bitterness, and of love over hatred’. It is, indeed, hugely encouraging to read of how someone so terribly ill-treated can be set free from the insecurity, bitterness and depression that result from such abuse. The emphasis on the need to forgive those who treat us cruelly is biblical and very helpful. Perhaps someone who has suffered similar abuse will be helped by Sheree’s story.
However, I find myself uneasy and unable wholeheartedly to recommend this book. What is it that attracts us to read a book whose back cover tells us it is a story of someone who has been ‘abandoned …abused…deprived of innocence. Suicide attempts, rape, self-harm…’? Do we read because we genuinely wish to understand suffering, or is there something almost voyeuristic about our interest?
Potential readers may feel uncomfortable that Sheree’s genuine spiritual conversion and healing are brought about through the means of pictures and healing of memories (although this phrase is not used). The fact that before she knew the Lord she lived with her boyfriend and had a child before marrying him is related without comment. Her honesty is commendable, but I would have hoped for the wisdom of hindsight to have been included.
All in all, a book I am not sorry to have read, but not one I will be giving to friends.
Jen Watkins,
Longmeadow Evangelical Church,
Stevenage
