Childhood's Thief: One Woman's Journey of Healing from Sexual Abuse

10 stars! I recently purchased a used copy of this book since it is sadly out of print and just finished reading it. It was RIVETING. The story of "JoAnn's" childhood is told in alternating chapters between her writings and her therapist's. Instead of focusing on the horrors of JoAnn's childhood, and there were many, the story instead focuses on what saved JoAnn. It is also not about a mushy relationship between therapist and client, rather the story of an extraordinary woman who overcomes unbearable childhood conditions to grow up to be a woman who completely repressed her childhood in order to survive it. When she sets out to work on herself in therapy, what she uncovers is spellbinding. This is not the story of how a gifted and extraordinarily caring therapist drew a woman out of her shell, but rather the story of a gifted and motivated client who was determined to do all the hard work herself to overcome and remember her past. There is no other book like this that I have come across that focuses more on the client being the real hero of the story. A BIG THANK YOU to the therapist for writing JoAnn's story down. It has SO MUCH to share!! I read nearly every book on childhood abuse that's out there and then I give the books away when I'm done reading them. I'm keeping this one though. This one is a piece of literature. Excellent writing. INCREDIBLE story. (Made into a movie called the Secret Path with Della Reese, I just learned after googling the author).