Martine The Girl in the Shadows

The book tells the true story of Martine's childhood in South Africa, using her memories and friends' recollections to describe with great detail and sensitivity what happened to her until she eventually escaped her mother. The book details how an abusive partnership can, unfortunately, lead to a subsequent abusive family.

Life in Johannesburg for Martine started in an orphanage where she was kept apart from sister Mireille. Eventually, Jackie, her mother, returned for her daughters and started family life again. Martine was quiet and sad for most of her early life. She had happy times with friends and at school, but life became a rollercoaster of trying to sleep through noisy, drink-fuelled parties held by her 'escort' mother and consequent moving home following complaints from the neighbours.

Martine's shocking life was put into perspective by one party-goer who explained to her, "You are a little girl now, so you have no choice in your life, but one day you are going to grow up and be an adult - a big person, and you won't need your mummy to look after you. You will be able to look after yourself. So, for now, you have to look forward to your future and remember you will grow up one day and have a choice".

Martine's childhood showed stoical self-sufficiency as well as heartbreak in the face of a multitude of abusive and neglectful situations where school and neighbours' homes were the only sanctuary. She tells the story of living through family alcohol abuse, arriving at school and not knowing where to go, losing friends after moving home, and even scraping up chewing gum from the pavement with her nails because she was so hungry. Martine details extensive parental neglect as well as physical, emotional and sexual abuse leading, as she got older, to grooming, a suicide attempt, coercion into prostitution, which was resisted, and rapes.

Nobody told Martine when her birthday was, and nobody thought about celebrating it with her. She was regularly beaten and neglected by her mother. She witnessed a bayonet assault on a rival by her sister's boyfriend.

Martine's childhood was filled with happy times: picnic outings with friends, exploring the mine dumps, and occasional meals with their families. She also received presents from her teacher or the lady in the toy shop, which brought her great joy. Martine's intelligence, independence, and determination to get through life allowed her to find comfort and love.

Dettagli