A young girl is perched on the cold chrome of yet another doctor's examining table, missing yet another day of school. Munchausen by Proxy is the world's most hidden form of child abuse...
"A searing and beautiful memoir."

Release planned for Monday, March 08, 2004 at Postal Release in Chesterfield, England United Kingdom.

Offered on relay and accepted.

I received this book today, and I will journal it further as soon as I have read it.
Thank you, DianeO.

This book was so chilling, it's so hard to believe the lengths a mother will go to when suffering from MBP.

Received from purple-pixie as part of BookRelay.
Thank you.

I received this book on Friday, and just could not resist reading it straight away. It is indeed a chilling read.

Julie Gregory was brought up by a mother who was suffering from Munchausen's by Proxy (MBP) - a psychiatric illness in which the perpetrator (usually the mother) makes an otherwise healthy child ill in order to seek continued medical care. Julie was put through a horrendous list of treatments for supposed illnesses from early childhood until her late teens. It is quite apparent from the book that her mother had suffered terribly in her own childhood, and was following the "abused becomes the abuser" pattern. However, the sheer level of abuse levelled on Julie is quite sickening.

What surprised me about this book was how long the condition went un-noticed by the very people who should have been able to look out for abuse. Innumerable doctors and nurses carried out invasive procedures on a child with no other confirmation of the symptoms that the word of her mother. No cross-checking between doctors seemed to be carried out, so one doctor would not be aware that other doctors had tried and failed to "cure" the illnesses. When Julie did speak up, she was derided as a fantasist and a liar and received no help. Something else I find astonishing. However, it is easy to try and put 2000s knowledge and methods into the context of 1970s procedures and we should be thankful that illnesses like MBP are now more recognised (although not always picked up, even now).

It would be interesting to get the perspective of the doctors on the case, and how they felt when MBP was realised. Did they feel duped? Or guilty? What about the school counsellor who dismissed the claims, and the friends who shunned Julie? Each of them played a part in her development, and it would be interesting to know how they felt with the benefit of hindsight. It would also be good to know what happened with the mother, and the adopted children.

It is shocking how far a mother can go in harming her own children for some personal attention. It is something that most of us can never understand. However, equally interesting is Julie's relationship with her mother. Most of us would assume that in the face of such overwhelming abuse, the first reaction would be to escape and get away from the abuser. However Julie seems unable to do this and still looked to her mother for comfort and reassurance.

Overall this book is an engaging read, if not wholly enjoyable read because of the subject matter. It is very much along the same lines as the David Pelzer story (A Child Called It, The Lost Boy & A Man Named Dave) although not as well written as Pelzer's account. Nonetheless, it is an interesting account of a fascinating illness.

Released on Monday, April 12, 2004 at N/A in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

I'm lending this to my mum to try and pique her insterest in BookCrossing.

Looking forward to my first BookCrossing experience.

As a mother this has got to be one of the most distressing books I have ever read. Although it made difficult reading somehow or other it was quite compelling and I did not want to put it down. That a child should be caused so much pain and distress for no other reason than a mother seeking attention beggars belief. A 'normal' mother would want to take on her child's pain and not distribute it. I do wonder though at our facination at reading such material and for that matter why it should be distributed as anything other than within a medical circle. Perhaps if even one person recognises themselves in the mother and is able to seek help after reading this then it will be worth while. A book to be read on your better days and certainly not if you feeling a little bit down.

Released on Monday, April 19, 2004 at N/A in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Giving back to my daughter, GlasgowGal.

Received

Released on Saturday, April 24, 2004 at RABCK in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

Thank you so much Barbara for noticing this on my Wish List and sending it down to me. A fantastic *almost* surprise RABCK!

It's heading upstairs with me and is next on the pile. Can't wait (if that is the right way of putting it given the nature of the book) to read it.

Will journal again when read - but already reserved for KathyS!

How on earth do I follow the journal entries that have preceded mine?

I think what really 'got' to me whilst I was reading this book wasn't just the fact that a mother could do all the things she did to Julie just to gain attention for herself, but that she apparently couldn't help herself and abused many other children (and adults) also. The fact that there were many times during the book when it was clear that her father knew exactly what was going on made things even worse.

How a parent can do this to their own flesh and blood is beyond me and how another can stand by and watch it happen... I know MSP is THE hardest psychiactic problem to diagnose or spot and it was abundantly clear that Julie's Mother was abused as a child I still come back to the old adage - there's NO excuse for abuse. It's hard to think that when Julie spoke up she was ignored by most and derided by others but I know for a fact that is the case with so many children, even nowadays, no one hears their cries for help.

If this book helps just one person then the work Julie continues towill be worthwhile.

I'd completely forgotten that I'd asked Rachel about this! So it was a real surprise - I'd say lovely surprise but I'm not sure the subject matter of the book can possibly be described as "lovely". Thanks Rachel for remembering and sending it on once you'd finished it.

Hopefully I'll get to read it soon and I'll then pass it on. Many thanks again :o)

Update 19.11.04

Moved up Mount TBR as promised to MaisyMay once I've read it.

Firstly, apologies for taking so long to get round to reading this. My only excuse, I signed up for far too many rings/rays that seemed to arrive with regularity all together!

I found this an incredibly difficult and unpleasant book to read. Julie's descriptions of her childhood were graphic and horrifying. I can only have huge admiration of her that she managed to survive and put the past behind her, whilst being able to help others facing MBP. Interestingly, my son is studying the different types and effects of child abuse for his college course and has discussed this very book just recently. So Julie's courage in committing her story to paper is helping to educate many people to MBP all over the world.

I will be sending this on to MaisyMay in the next day or so. And thanks for sharing it with me.

Released on Thursday, December 16, 2004 at about 11:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Postal Release in Royal Mail, England United Kingdom.

RELEASE NOTES:

This will be going 2nd class to MaisyMay and fingers crossed that it arrives safely in the Christmas postal rush.

Thank you for sending this to me KathyS - It looks like a quick read so going to start it today!

There is a cold, detached feeling to this book, which seemed to be Julie's way of distancing herself from her past. Whilst it explored the mechanics of the abuse in some detail, there seemed to be little said about the emotions involved - again I've assumed this is Julie's way of protecting herself from her memories.

The book did keep my attention, even though I found the style of writing a little broken and difficult to follow. I hope that sharing her story has helped both Julie and others that may be affected by MBP.

I will offer this book to the BCUK mailing list to see if there are any others interested in reading it.


Book Ray
psychojo (UK)
chelseagirl (UK)

Caught from Maisy May.

Included in bookbox offered on freecycle.