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Unseen, unheard, unknown
100 pages, Paperback
First published April 17, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 14, 2016
It's a heartbreaking read with a hopeful ending. Sadly that hope proved fleeting. Sarah went on to become a doctor and spent a lot of time overseas in places like India doing voluntary work. She also had her own practice and set up a charity to help poor in places like India receive healthcare. Unfortunately she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and after a suicide attempt that went wrong she had to have a leg amputated. This caused her excruciating pain (phantom limb syndrome) and she became addicted to pethidine and eventually was charged with writing illegal scripts for the drug. Not long after this she began to visit the aged Anne Hamilton-Byrne in order to make some sense of her past. She eventually began to follow and Eastern religion and seemed to find peace within it. Sadly Sarah passed away in May 2016. RiP, Sarah.
This cult still exists and still has quite a few followers who continue to believe that Anne Hamilton-Byrne is their god.
This cult still exists and still has quite a few followers who continue to believe that Anne Hamilton-Byrne is their god.
February 11, 2016
To give this book 5 stars commands that it must have been good. In fact it was a most disturbing book of the utmost cruelty being given by those who were meant to love and nurture. The whole story of the Anne Hamilton Byrne Cult is an unbelievable fantasy yet it is a true story. How any sane person would believe that she was Jesus Christ is beyond my imagination. The tie up with Julian Assange is intriguing, which makes me think where he is coming from. Raynor Johnson who was Master of Queens College Melbourne University and a leading member of the cult leaves me mystified.
December 17, 2012
I would of rated this a lot more if i had not found out that the main girl in this went back to the cult leader after a few years of writing this book .. if it had not been for that this book would of been highly uplifting but not it just seems so fake to me that she would write all these bad things about the leader and what she had done and then went back.
July 14, 2009
The strangely uplifting true story of Sarah Hamilton-Byrne's chilling life within a dangerous cult, the madwoman who controlled her life, and her eventual escape. Three and a half stars.
June 15, 2018
I don’t think you can read this book with out breaking your heart over the way these children were treated. It seems impossible that this extent of child abuse could continue for so many years without being brought through the authorities. It is almost unbelievable and certainly unbearable that adults can be so vulnerable and needy that they can think that beating, starving and half drowning children is an acceptable form of raising them. Just because one woman said it is.
Books like this are hard to read but important because they educate us to what is possible and to stand up for injustice when we see it.
I wish things had been better for Sarah, and I am terribly sorry her life ended the way it did. Im glad she was able to find some patches of happiness and purpose in her time, I just wish it had been different. Vale Sarah.
Books like this are hard to read but important because they educate us to what is possible and to stand up for injustice when we see it.
I wish things had been better for Sarah, and I am terribly sorry her life ended the way it did. Im glad she was able to find some patches of happiness and purpose in her time, I just wish it had been different. Vale Sarah.
August 9, 2023
An extraordinary tale of systematic child abuse. It’s unbelievable that these people could not be charged for what they did to these poor children.
March 16, 2021
A fascinating insight into life growing up in a cult, this is at times a disturbing read that lays bare the the cruel ties that can bind families to each other.
Sarah Hamilton-Byrne grew up in the infamous Melbourne (Australia) based cult known as The Family. Her heartbreaking insights into a childhood filled with horrors, dominated by a charismatic woman who convinced others that she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ (yes, really) is searing in its honesty.
Hamilton-Byrne tells her readers that there are many gaps in her childhood memories, mostly induced by the drug taking regime they were forced to endure. Her descriptions of the LSD taking rituals she went through as a teenager are harrowing. All of this book is harrowing. The cruelties Hamilton-Byrne and others who were raised as her brothers and sisters are difficult to read about, not only because of the pain and suffering the children endured but because of the blind stupidity of the adults who were complicit in the crimes, all in the name of "religion".
Yet Hamilton-Byrne refused to be a victim. As messed up as her life was, she was able to find a way out with the help of loving, supporting people who opened their hearts and homes to her.
The key message of this book for me was that although there are people in this world who will do anything for power and money, including destroying childhoods, there are many more who will fight to give survivors a safe path forward.
Although it's let down by the writing at times, this is an excellent, first-hand insight into life in a religious cult.
Sarah Hamilton-Byrne grew up in the infamous Melbourne (Australia) based cult known as The Family. Her heartbreaking insights into a childhood filled with horrors, dominated by a charismatic woman who convinced others that she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ (yes, really) is searing in its honesty.
Hamilton-Byrne tells her readers that there are many gaps in her childhood memories, mostly induced by the drug taking regime they were forced to endure. Her descriptions of the LSD taking rituals she went through as a teenager are harrowing. All of this book is harrowing. The cruelties Hamilton-Byrne and others who were raised as her brothers and sisters are difficult to read about, not only because of the pain and suffering the children endured but because of the blind stupidity of the adults who were complicit in the crimes, all in the name of "religion".
Yet Hamilton-Byrne refused to be a victim. As messed up as her life was, she was able to find a way out with the help of loving, supporting people who opened their hearts and homes to her.
The key message of this book for me was that although there are people in this world who will do anything for power and money, including destroying childhoods, there are many more who will fight to give survivors a safe path forward.
Although it's let down by the writing at times, this is an excellent, first-hand insight into life in a religious cult.
May 5, 2017
A bit repetitious, but an interesting insight into The Family.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews