“I sat for what seemed like forever with my back against everyone crying, it was beautiful” – Gracie Jayne (From the book, My Grandpa’s Secret, Chapter 15 #Freedom)
About the Author
Gracie was born on September 26th, at Houston Texas, and soon moved to Seattle, Washington with her mother and two brothers when she was still an infant. When she was 4, her mother lost the custody of all the three children, and they had to move in with their grand parents. Jayne, graduated in the year 2005, and soon after that became a motivational speaker. Jayne was recognized for her services, for the disabled children.
Book Review #20
This book “My Grandpa’s Secret” is an autobiography of the author Gracie Jayne. When Gracie was about to send me a copy of her book, she warned me saying “Richa, if you’re sensitive in nature, I wouldn’t recommend you reading my book”, and I being super confident, grabbed the opportunity. I am glad that I did!
For the first time ever I thought, I wouldn’t be able to do the justice by writing about this book. Hence, asked Gracie if she was up for narrating everything she has written, and she agreed happily.
I would request everyone to please watch the videos attached below, to know what is there in the book and how deeply it effects you.
This book contains a comprehensive chain of the past experience of the writer being a victim of child abuse. To begin with let’s take a fair look on what exactly a child abuse is, “Sexual Child Abuse involves a physical forcing of sexual act or non-consensual touching. Rape falls under sexual assault and includes acts like the penetration of a penis, any object or any part of the body to any extent, into the vagina, mouth, urethra or anus of another person; or making another person do so. Any sexual activity, irrespective of consent with a girl or a boy below the age of 18, constitutes statutory rape.”
Now imagine a child of 4 living the above definition, everyday and for years. There were incidences where Gracie was covered in blood, having cut her forehead, and smeared the blood over her face. With courageous honesty, the writer reveals details of her abuse at the hands of her grand parents specially her grand father and others.
A truly harrowing read that made me cry. I could not put this book down until I finished it. Every page revealed more about the horrendous abuse author had to live through. I had to know if she was alright at the end. It is a heart-wrenching story, but one that is true for so many children. Anger raged through me as I was reading the book. Every page I read, I hoped that I was there at the moment and could save her.
A must read for everyone including parents, children, readers and non readers.
Readavorous (Dastan-e-Kitaab) 