***TOP TEN KINDLE BESTSELLER***‘Compelling. Poignant. Haunting. Heart wrenching. Just beautiful. Everyone needs to read this wonderful book.’ – Renita D’Silva, bestselling author of The Forgotten Daughter1939. Seventeen-year-old Nora Jennings has spent her life secure in the certainty of a bright, happy future – until one night of passion has more catastrophic consequences than she ever could … catastrophic consequences than she ever could have anticipated. Labelled a moral defective and sectioned under the Mental Deficiency Act, she is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her.
1981. When psychiatrist Janet Humphreys comes across Nora, heavily institutionalised and still living in the hospital more than forty years after her incarceration, she knows that she must be the one to help Nora rediscover what it is to live. But as she works to help Nora overcome her past, Janet realises she must finally face her own.
Based on a true story, The Girl Behind the Gates is the raw, heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting tale of a young woman cut down in her prime, and of the woman who finally brings her back to life, perfect for fans of The Girl in the Letter and Philomena.
Further praise for THE GIRL BEHIND THE GATES:
‘The Girl behind the Gates absorbed me from the start. A haunting, heart-wrenching but ultimately heart-warming novel told in beautiful prose and with great compassion and insight.’ – Gill Thompson, bestselling author of The Oceans Between Us
‘The Girl Behind the Gates is a powerful, emotional novel – harrowing in parts but always authentic and full of insights and compassion, and a sobering account of the best and worst of human nature. I was moved to tears by the ending and will certainly not hesitate to recommend it.’ – Jill Childs, bestselling author of Gracie’s Secret
‘A powerful story of trust, compassion, healing – and the transforming power of love, that can give new life to a broken spirit.’ – Sharon Maas, bestselling author of The Violin Maker’s Daughter
THE GIRL BEHIND THE GATES is touching so many readers’ lives…
‘The best book of the year. I read 125 books a year and this is the best I have read’ – 5 STARS
‘I can’t stop crying having just finished the book. It’s an incredible piece of literary genius’ – 5 STARS
‘A story that needs to be told’ – 5 STARS
‘An inspirational and very moving story’ – 5 STARS
’Just brilliant. I wholeheartedly recommend this book’ – 5 STARS
‘I hardly ever write a review but if you read one book this year this is it’ – 5 STARS
‘A very moving and heartbreaking story’ – 5 STARS
‘I would have given this book 10 STARS if I could’ – 5 STARS
‘This book is beautifully written and captivating in every way’ – 5 STARS
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Tragic life story but shows the indomitable will to live.
How horrible the world was to girls in her situation. Tragic!
It was very realistic for this time in history. It is a sad book. But the ending is very satisfactory.
I know this to be true. I wish I didn’t
This book is based on a true story, and it is shocking. I think the title could have been better. It sounds like an adolescent read, but it is far from it. What we didn’t know about mental health laws is appalling. I sent this book to a friend, and recommended it to others. Everyone was drawn in to the story.
Heartbreaking
Excellent book. Sad but true.
Very sad but inspiring. Hard to believe it is based on a true story.
I had a great aunt who was similarly hospitalized after post partum blues rendered her husband incapable of dealing with her. That is the heard story behind her “incarceration.” I often wondered what her life was like: the whole of it lived as a mentally sane woman in such a facility. As well, I wondered why she was never released. Wonder no more. I hope her caregivers offered more humane and loving care. This is what drew me into the book: the story of Nora kept me spellbound, as did Brenda Davies writing. Sad story, and yet fully inspirational.
I bought this book for the historical information of life for the early institutionalized, I got more than I bargained for. It elicited memories from my childhood regarding behavioral conditioning from parents who were tyrannical in there approach to raising their children and the corporal punishments doled out for insubordination, as well as, from my first husband. It brought me to tears numerous times, it was cathartic in it’s own way, and made me understand my decision not to raise my own children the way I was raised. Unfortunately, I was unable to prevent the men in my life from undermining my approach. Praise to Brenda Davies for this story and thank you for the emotions it evokes that are revealing, enlightening and cleansing!
I have worked with people with disabilities for many years and now I know why this choice has been so rewarding, in my opinion, I receive far more than I give!
Sad part of history
This book is heartbreaking, and at the same time a beautiful story of one woman’s fight to overcome the horrors of being institutionalized for years and the woman who helped her heal.
An excellent read. It grips you from page 1 and I was unable to put it down. It was an eye opener on the abuse inflicted on the incarcerated mentally ill in the not so distant past.
It’s hard to believe the hardships and terror those in asylums went through in the early years of psychology care. And that Nora never had a visitor. She did survive the horrors she endured but was marked for life by them. So sad!
A secret hidden, a wasted life
Wow is all I can say. This book is a tearjerker for sure. To know that it is based on a true story is even more heartbreaking. I even had to put it down a couple of times and come back to it. How can this ever happen to anyone? How could parents do this to their child?
Nora is a good child. She gets good grades in school, she minds her parents, and she sings in the church choir and plays the piano. All is happy and well in her family. She grows up with her cousin Robert. One day, one time only, they make love and she becomes pregnant. When her parents find out she is beaten by her father and with the advice of the priest she is sent to a mental institution for being defective.
This is the story of the over 40 years she spent there, her life, her lost dreams, the treatment and her finally giving up and becoming institutionalized. It is the story of the Doctor Janet that came to work there and brought back the spark of life to Nora. After 40 some years in the institution Nora’s remarkable progress and her healing.
It is also the story of the Doctor Janet that has some healing of her own to do. Estranged from her parents and also her husband she must deal with the problems that caused the breakup of her marriage. She works intensely with Nora because at the same age she became pregnant and married her husband. She feels that for the grace of God she could have been in Nora’s shoes. Working with Nora helps her heal herself.
This is a beautiful story of healing, even though it is a traumatic story of the injustice done to a young woman just beginning her life. The story is beautifully written, the characters and wonderful, believable, and pertinent to the story.
I would recommend this book.
Thanks to Brenda Davies, Hodder and Stoughton, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy for an honest review.
I don’t want to give the plot away but this book has so many facets. The characters are likable and some are evil. The main character , Nora has a life that is beyond comprehension.This is historical fiction but based on a true story. You have to read it!