Nanin
Transcending a Childhood of Sexual Abuse

By Tony Thornton
July 2001
Book Guild, UK
ISBN: 1857765230
97 pages, illustrated
$27.50 hardcover

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When Tony Thornton, an unwanted and ignored child, was sexually abused at the age of six by his father, there was no one to whom he could talk. Worse was to come: under the guise of caring for Tony, then aged nine, his uncle repeatedly abused him and farmed him out to other pedophiles. Thornton broke away after seven years and built up an outwardly successful life, with a beautiful wife, a nice home and four healthy, happy children. But inside, all his repressed memories and feelings were waiting to erupt, which they eventually did, with catastrophic results-he lost everything, including, for a time, his sanity. Years of therapy and hospitalization followed, but he survived, coming to terms not only with his own dreadful experiences, but also with the family circumstances that led to them. Nanin is not a comfortable read, but it is the autobiography of a brave and sensitive man, and an invaluable addition to the current debate on child abuse. Black and white photographs included.

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