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Empty Chairs
Much more than a story about child abuse.
Did you hear a child screaming again last night? Did you ignore the sound?
In your own neighborhood, children are being given an education. They are learning the facts of child abuse: pain and suffering that will shape their futures. Except many of them won't have futures at all.
Meet Stacey. She graduated Child Abuse 101 with honors. She ran, and at age 11 hit the streets. She kept on running ...until now.
Now ...it's time to talk.
I have been asked so often now..."What happened to you after the Palace?" I had not originally thought to write a follow up book, however I am so very touched by the generous and caring people that have asked for more of my story that I have written a sequel.
Empty Chairs book 2 "Faint Echos Of Laughter" should be released by end of 2011.
Did you hear a child screaming again last night? Did you ignore the sound?
In your own neighborhood, children are being given an education. They are learning the facts of child abuse: pain and suffering that will shape their futures. Except many of them won't have futures at all.
Meet Stacey. She graduated Child Abuse 101 with honors. She ran, and at age 11 hit the streets. She kept on running ...until now.
Now ...it's time to talk.
I have been asked so often now..."What happened to you after the Palace?" I had not originally thought to write a follow up book, however I am so very touched by the generous and caring people that have asked for more of my story that I have written a sequel.
Empty Chairs book 2 "Faint Echos Of Laughter" should be released by end of 2011.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2011
61 people are currently reading
835 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
March 25, 2012
What an unbelievable book, an unbelievable tale of horror, and absolutely nothing a little girl (or anyone) should suffer at the hands of her mother, no less!
The years that Stacey endured will be forever etched on her mind, and the fact that she managed to escape the horror at age 11 is a credit to her. But the streets of Sydney weren't a lot better; she was 'free' but she had no money, she could trust no-one, she ate very little, slept very little, as she had to keep her guard up all the time.
Meeting the bikie, Animal, was one of the best things that happened to Stacey, as he cared for her, in his rough, tough way. The scraps of spoiled food from the markets each Sunday had to see her through for the week when she couldn't scrounge any other food. She got very ill, and other homeless people looked after her, but she didn't know who they were....
By the end of the book, I was so amazed at Stacey's courage, and her tenacity, and I immediately, on finishing, downloaded her sequel Faint Echoes Of Laughter, which I will read very soon. She is one amazing lady, and needs an incredible amount of hugs!!
The years that Stacey endured will be forever etched on her mind, and the fact that she managed to escape the horror at age 11 is a credit to her. But the streets of Sydney weren't a lot better; she was 'free' but she had no money, she could trust no-one, she ate very little, slept very little, as she had to keep her guard up all the time.
Meeting the bikie, Animal, was one of the best things that happened to Stacey, as he cared for her, in his rough, tough way. The scraps of spoiled food from the markets each Sunday had to see her through for the week when she couldn't scrounge any other food. She got very ill, and other homeless people looked after her, but she didn't know who they were....
By the end of the book, I was so amazed at Stacey's courage, and her tenacity, and I immediately, on finishing, downloaded her sequel Faint Echoes Of Laughter, which I will read very soon. She is one amazing lady, and needs an incredible amount of hugs!!
February 15, 2011
Some of my friends have said of this book that they want to read it but, knowing the pain and horrors it chronicles, need to get themselves into the right frame of mind to do so. Others have admitted that they doubt whether they’ll actually get round to it. They should and must – for several reasons.
It’s an autobiographical story, written under a pseudonym, which reveals how a 3 year old was subjected to gross sexual abuses at the behest of her own mother, and forced to continue servicing visitors to the house until eventually, at the age of eleven, she ran away. Thereafter, life on the streets proved equally stressful, threatening to confirm all the negatives she felt about how people behave.
Perhaps that crude synopsis has made you join the ‘I’m not sure I could read this – it’s too horrible’ camp. If it has, it’s deprived you of an astonishing experience. Because this is a page turner and, bizarrely, a sort of celebration. I know that’s a cliché beloved of Amazon reviewers, but here it’s a fact. The story is relentlessly riveting. There’s tension, hidden (and not so hidden) forces at work, powerful characters, and observations of social interaction that are penetrating insights into what lurks behind the facades of sunny, happy-go-lucky Australia, where families picnic in the sun and glory in sights such as the fabulous Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The abuse inflicted on the infant Sassy-Girl (let’s use the street name she earned) was not at the hands of social low-lifes, but ‘respectable’ middle class professionals. When she eventually rebels and runs away, she has to find places to sleep, clothes to wear, ways to get food, and simultaneously avoid the pressure from pimps to recruit her into their stable. She experiences some kindnesses but her whole life seems to have been a denial that trust is possible between humans. When groups of girls at the zoo mock her for the clothes she’s wearing, she asks ‘why do people do those things? What was it that gave those girls the right to make fun of something they didn't understand?’ adding that ‘It would take a very long time to discover how common that trait was in humans’.
It would have been so easy (in theory) to succumb to prostitution to earn her keep, but the abuse she suffered makes her determined never to allow her body to be used again. As she says ‘I knew my soul would die anyway if I made a conscious decision to sell the child's body in which it was housed. I wasn’t being brave, or strong. I simply knew that all of me would survive – or another me would. What point would there be living without my soul and my spirit?’
An author’s note at the beginning speaks of the compulsion Danson had to write this, the promise she’d made to someone to do so, but she also admits that it’s taken longer to get round to it than she thought it would. And that’s part of the spell this narrative weaves. We’re getting the intimate day to day experiences of a 12 year old – the encounters, the threats, the violence, the alienation – but they’re all being recounted by the mature woman she survived to become.
And the narrator herself is aware of this, of course. This is a woman who knows how to write, how to use language, sometimes simply, always directly, to engage the reader, a woman who has come to know that friendships and trust are possible, and yet who’s re-entering the mind of her pre-teen self and reliving those years, with their innocence and ignorance. Because Sassy-Girl is uneducated (in formal terms). She thinks everyone speaks Australian (except Americans, whom she’s seen on TV and who speak American). ‘If someone had told me we all spoke English,’ she says, ‘I would have been even more confused.
At times, the mature narrator lends her voice to the girl. When she makes her way to the War Memorial, for example, she says she ‘spent the rest of the night in the company of the spirits of people who had died in a nightmare as well’. And there’s an awareness of the power of simplicity in sentences such as ‘I wanted to laugh and mean it’, or ‘It reminded me of the way I cried, back when I still could.’
But these aren’t intended to be criticisms. The moment Sassy-Girl suspects she’s feeling self-pity, she forces herself out of it. She’s a survivor and, despite all the torments she’s endured in these early years, what remains is an affirmation of her spirit, a confidence that, despite the enormous forces ranged against her, she won’t be a loser. It’s a compelling read, a reminder of the deepest evils of which we’re capable, but also a celebration of our ability to overcome.
It’s an autobiographical story, written under a pseudonym, which reveals how a 3 year old was subjected to gross sexual abuses at the behest of her own mother, and forced to continue servicing visitors to the house until eventually, at the age of eleven, she ran away. Thereafter, life on the streets proved equally stressful, threatening to confirm all the negatives she felt about how people behave.
Perhaps that crude synopsis has made you join the ‘I’m not sure I could read this – it’s too horrible’ camp. If it has, it’s deprived you of an astonishing experience. Because this is a page turner and, bizarrely, a sort of celebration. I know that’s a cliché beloved of Amazon reviewers, but here it’s a fact. The story is relentlessly riveting. There’s tension, hidden (and not so hidden) forces at work, powerful characters, and observations of social interaction that are penetrating insights into what lurks behind the facades of sunny, happy-go-lucky Australia, where families picnic in the sun and glory in sights such as the fabulous Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The abuse inflicted on the infant Sassy-Girl (let’s use the street name she earned) was not at the hands of social low-lifes, but ‘respectable’ middle class professionals. When she eventually rebels and runs away, she has to find places to sleep, clothes to wear, ways to get food, and simultaneously avoid the pressure from pimps to recruit her into their stable. She experiences some kindnesses but her whole life seems to have been a denial that trust is possible between humans. When groups of girls at the zoo mock her for the clothes she’s wearing, she asks ‘why do people do those things? What was it that gave those girls the right to make fun of something they didn't understand?’ adding that ‘It would take a very long time to discover how common that trait was in humans’.
It would have been so easy (in theory) to succumb to prostitution to earn her keep, but the abuse she suffered makes her determined never to allow her body to be used again. As she says ‘I knew my soul would die anyway if I made a conscious decision to sell the child's body in which it was housed. I wasn’t being brave, or strong. I simply knew that all of me would survive – or another me would. What point would there be living without my soul and my spirit?’
An author’s note at the beginning speaks of the compulsion Danson had to write this, the promise she’d made to someone to do so, but she also admits that it’s taken longer to get round to it than she thought it would. And that’s part of the spell this narrative weaves. We’re getting the intimate day to day experiences of a 12 year old – the encounters, the threats, the violence, the alienation – but they’re all being recounted by the mature woman she survived to become.
And the narrator herself is aware of this, of course. This is a woman who knows how to write, how to use language, sometimes simply, always directly, to engage the reader, a woman who has come to know that friendships and trust are possible, and yet who’s re-entering the mind of her pre-teen self and reliving those years, with their innocence and ignorance. Because Sassy-Girl is uneducated (in formal terms). She thinks everyone speaks Australian (except Americans, whom she’s seen on TV and who speak American). ‘If someone had told me we all spoke English,’ she says, ‘I would have been even more confused.
At times, the mature narrator lends her voice to the girl. When she makes her way to the War Memorial, for example, she says she ‘spent the rest of the night in the company of the spirits of people who had died in a nightmare as well’. And there’s an awareness of the power of simplicity in sentences such as ‘I wanted to laugh and mean it’, or ‘It reminded me of the way I cried, back when I still could.’
But these aren’t intended to be criticisms. The moment Sassy-Girl suspects she’s feeling self-pity, she forces herself out of it. She’s a survivor and, despite all the torments she’s endured in these early years, what remains is an affirmation of her spirit, a confidence that, despite the enormous forces ranged against her, she won’t be a loser. It’s a compelling read, a reminder of the deepest evils of which we’re capable, but also a celebration of our ability to overcome.
January 23, 2011
Simply put, this book is a classic - a superbly written gruesome real life horror story - and self-penned to boot, no ghost writer in sight (they would never write as well as Stacey anyway). It is direct, it is transcendent, it does not shut its eyes for a single second. Stacey Danson does for child abuse what Primo Levi did for the Holocaust - she survived it and rose above it (although Primo Levi committed suicide in the end).
Talking of suicide, you can see those chairs of the title emptying as apparently 13 out of the 15 people in the street gang Stacey joined at the age of 11 are now dead.
I am not easily reduced to shock. I used to volunteer for Amnesty International and know well enough what people are capable of doing the other people, but this is something else.
How do you prostitute a toddler of 3? How do you allow man after man to rape your daughter at the age of 5? How can you allow them to mutilate and torture her at the age of 10?
Rumour has it that Stacey Danson wrote this book because of a promise she made to a friend who subsequently committed suicide before she had put one word down on paper.
I have read the interviews. Stacey had to relive every moment in writing this book and, absolutely extraordinarily, it is not a bitter book, it is suprisingly uplifting, as Primo Levi's 'If This Is A Man' was.
There are lists out there of books to read before you die. This is a book to read to stop others dying.
It describes a continuing outrage, a living hell, outragously well. This is one hell of a book.
Talking of suicide, you can see those chairs of the title emptying as apparently 13 out of the 15 people in the street gang Stacey joined at the age of 11 are now dead.
I am not easily reduced to shock. I used to volunteer for Amnesty International and know well enough what people are capable of doing the other people, but this is something else.
How do you prostitute a toddler of 3? How do you allow man after man to rape your daughter at the age of 5? How can you allow them to mutilate and torture her at the age of 10?
Rumour has it that Stacey Danson wrote this book because of a promise she made to a friend who subsequently committed suicide before she had put one word down on paper.
I have read the interviews. Stacey had to relive every moment in writing this book and, absolutely extraordinarily, it is not a bitter book, it is suprisingly uplifting, as Primo Levi's 'If This Is A Man' was.
There are lists out there of books to read before you die. This is a book to read to stop others dying.
It describes a continuing outrage, a living hell, outragously well. This is one hell of a book.
April 6, 2011
Empty Chairs is a shocking and extraordinary account of Stacey Danson's survival from the most harrowing sexual and physical abuse she was subjected to from the age of three by her mother and a succession of men. Yet there's an absence of self-pity in the recounting, Stacey tell it as it is, with emotional honesty and simplicity, making it all the more poignant. But Stacey is a survivor. We see the emergence of her indomitable spirit which helps her escape from her intolerable situation. At the tender age of eleven she runs away and the rest of this astounding autobiography is given over to her survival on the streets where she arms herself with a knife and a few other essentials, including a radio, and earns herself a street name - Sassy Girl or Sassy. She lives from day to day, night to night, in cliff recesses, doorways, parks, beach huts and dock warehouses, surviving on old bruised fruit from the market and water from toilet blocks, or, when she can, food and drink from Paulie's cafe where the pimps and 'working girls' hang out. It would have been so easy for someone so young and vulnerable and desperate as Stacey to have ended up in prostitution, like the other girls at Paulie's cafe, but in spite of the growing menace and eventual abuse and violence Stacey is subjected to, she resists. She's made a promise to herself that she won't allow her body to be prostituted so she can 'keep mind and body intact'. We feel her exhaustion and fear as she is hounded from place to place with threats from predators or as a result of witnessing torture or murder. In spite of her constant references to her age, I had to keep pinching yourself to remember that I was reading the account of an eleven-year-old girl, so old is the head on her shoulders. Her intuition and outspokenness are undoubtedly her saviour. At the end of the book, we just begin to see glimpses of the next phase of Stacey's life and I think - I hope - this is a taster for her next book as I for one want to see what happens next on her incredible journey from then to now.
September 24, 2017
How does one review an account of someone’s life? Can you really rate it in stars? Could there be a more delicate matter? Empty Chairs felt true, it is original and unique, because it’s the story of an individual. This book stirred my emotions and taught me many lessons.
Empty Chairs is the shocking and disturbing account of author Stacey Danson’s early life. Her own mother physically and verbally abused her. And as if that wasn’t enough, she also prostituted her daughter to male and female pedophiles, beginning as early as age five.
Stacey learned about the world outside the hell she lived in through television shows such as ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and other wholesome shows of the era, and couldn’t understand why her life was so different.
She gets a taste of school life and realizes that there was something terribly wrong with her own life. At age eleven she runs away from home and is forced to live in the streets in one of the most dangerous areas in Australia. She takes on the street name ‘Sassy Girl’, which suits her well, and begins the next chapter of her horror story.
I admired the steadfast will to survive and resilience of this little eleven-year-old girl. The things that happen to her in the streets of ‘Kings Cross’ will break your heart and make you angry.
I don’t read many memoirs, but I was drawn to this book. I’m not going to say I enjoyed it, because that wouldn’t be an accurate description of my experience, but once I began reading it I couldn’t put it down.
The reason I don’t read many memoirs is because when they’re good they tend to stay with me. Empty Chairs will not only haunt me for a long time, but it has also changed me. I will no longer see homeless people the same way and I will be much more vigilant of the state of children. So in many ways this book has changed me for the better.
As difficult as it is to read, ‘Empty Chairs’ should be read––it must be read. This book will bring tears to your eyes, it will break your heart and make you angry, and it will enlighten you.
Empty Chairs is the shocking and disturbing account of author Stacey Danson’s early life. Her own mother physically and verbally abused her. And as if that wasn’t enough, she also prostituted her daughter to male and female pedophiles, beginning as early as age five.
Stacey learned about the world outside the hell she lived in through television shows such as ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and other wholesome shows of the era, and couldn’t understand why her life was so different.
She gets a taste of school life and realizes that there was something terribly wrong with her own life. At age eleven she runs away from home and is forced to live in the streets in one of the most dangerous areas in Australia. She takes on the street name ‘Sassy Girl’, which suits her well, and begins the next chapter of her horror story.
I admired the steadfast will to survive and resilience of this little eleven-year-old girl. The things that happen to her in the streets of ‘Kings Cross’ will break your heart and make you angry.
I don’t read many memoirs, but I was drawn to this book. I’m not going to say I enjoyed it, because that wouldn’t be an accurate description of my experience, but once I began reading it I couldn’t put it down.
The reason I don’t read many memoirs is because when they’re good they tend to stay with me. Empty Chairs will not only haunt me for a long time, but it has also changed me. I will no longer see homeless people the same way and I will be much more vigilant of the state of children. So in many ways this book has changed me for the better.
As difficult as it is to read, ‘Empty Chairs’ should be read––it must be read. This book will bring tears to your eyes, it will break your heart and make you angry, and it will enlighten you.
March 7, 2011
I am not an easy person to shock but holy crap! What I found in the pages of this book did more than shock. It made me sick and angry. How can a person who is a mother treat a child in this way? It is beyond all reasoning. Not only the mother but the pieces of dirt men that come to abuse this child. One being a doctor!!! No one opens their mouth and puts a stop to it? NO. Sad, sick and should never happen to another child.
Empty Chairs is not an easy story to read but it is very well written. I forgot while reading that Sassy was just 11 years old! She was so mature and wise for her years. I guess one of the saddest parts of child abuse is forcing a child to become an adult way before it is time.
I wish the author never had to go through what she did but she handled it with dignity and a bravery that even I as a grown adult could not do. Thank goodness for people like the biker Animal who helped her. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for bikers. They get a bad rap and yes there are some dirtballs but most of those guys have hearts as big as the moon.
I will admit that I was disappointed with the ending. I even looked to make sure that I had received the entire book! I would love to know what else happened. How Ms. Danson got off of the streets, how she overcame her past and turned into the wonderful woman she is now. It sounds awful in a way to say this but I do hope there is another book with the rest of the story.
What is even more sad? Child abuse has not ended. Every single day somewhere in this world a child is abused and neglected. How much longer will people turn their backs on it? How many children will not be as lucky as Ms. Danson? We do not need anymore empty chairs.
Empty Chairs is not an easy story to read but it is very well written. I forgot while reading that Sassy was just 11 years old! She was so mature and wise for her years. I guess one of the saddest parts of child abuse is forcing a child to become an adult way before it is time.
I wish the author never had to go through what she did but she handled it with dignity and a bravery that even I as a grown adult could not do. Thank goodness for people like the biker Animal who helped her. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for bikers. They get a bad rap and yes there are some dirtballs but most of those guys have hearts as big as the moon.
I will admit that I was disappointed with the ending. I even looked to make sure that I had received the entire book! I would love to know what else happened. How Ms. Danson got off of the streets, how she overcame her past and turned into the wonderful woman she is now. It sounds awful in a way to say this but I do hope there is another book with the rest of the story.
What is even more sad? Child abuse has not ended. Every single day somewhere in this world a child is abused and neglected. How much longer will people turn their backs on it? How many children will not be as lucky as Ms. Danson? We do not need anymore empty chairs.
August 16, 2011
This is the autobiography of Stacey Denson from the age of 3 to the age of about 12. Stacey lives in middle class Sydney, Austraila and is prostituted by her mother started at the age of 3. Her mother sells her virginity at the age of 5. At the age of 11, she fights back and finds herself on the streets of Sydney. She must learn the rules of the street in order to survive. She must learn to remain invisible but she is able to stay alive on the streets not meant for an 11 year old girl. This story is not for the feint of heart but it is a story that must be read. Stacey tells her story avoiding no details. She tells it like it is but it is a story not told with self pity. This book is a necessary read because it is a thing that is happening everywhere, no matter what your income is or where you live. Stacey was abused and raped by prominent memebers of society....doctors, police, and businessmen. She lived in a 2 story brick house in a middle class neighborhood. People must realize that this could be happening next door and to not ignore it. It is not something that catches and these children must be saved. They cannot be left to slip between the cracks, like Stacey. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is the author ends the story when she is still a child on the streets. The reader obviously knows that she survives and I am left wondering what happened and how she was able to make it to adulthood and leave the streets behind. This is a wonderful book....but again she does not hold back on any details. It is a hard emotional read but this is what is happening right now to some child, and maybe one child can be saved by the reading of this book.
May 10, 2018
“Empty Chairs” is the story of the author’s life when she was a very young girl in Australia. I can’t say I’m shocked very easily, but this was shocking. The woman who gave birth to Stacey-- Gwen, because she certainly didn’t deserve the title of mother, sold her YOUNG daughter’s body to provide for her. If Stacey didn’t comply she’d be beaten and locked in a closet. The woman was sick on so many levels, but I had to wonder about the people that paid for sex with a girl not old enough to be in school? What were they? Even when one of these clients insisted that Stacey get some education, that wasn’t enough to erase what he did to her. Then, finally when Stacey had enough she exploded. I felt no empathy toward Gwen getting beaten by her 11-year-old daughter. Here is where Stacey became Sassy-Girl and now is living on the streets. The one thing that made this slightly easier to read was this girl’s attitude and strength. I loved her wisdom and feistiness, yet I kept thinking how does this go on around us? I believe the real strength of this book is educating people it’s happening. This is well-written, and you can’t help but fall in love with Sassy-Girl/Stacey. There is a second book that finishes the story of young Stacey and I will be reading it. It is a very tough read, but one I highly recommend you try.
January 1, 2012
Empty Chairs was a well written account of the evil that lurks in the world. I thought Stacey Danson did an excellent job and she kept it real. The book was direct. There is nothing pretty or nice about child abuse. In fact, regardless of the graphicness of this book, no one can really know the true horror and isolation of child abuse unless you've lived through it. Being raped at seven years-old, I understand her struggles and unrelenting determination to overcome her unfortunate and unwanted childhood experiences.
Paige Dearth
Author, Believe Like A Child
Paige Dearth
Author, Believe Like A Child
March 6, 2013
I cried. I got angry. The abuse this woman suffered at the hands of her mother made me so ill.. How does one wrap their head around the fact that a mother could sell her child to men for sexual gratification? How sad it is that escaping her mother and living on the streets gave Stacey a sense of normalcy.
This book is tough to read because it doesn't sugar coat the agony of abuse, but it does show you what the human spirit can overcome.
This book is tough to read because it doesn't sugar coat the agony of abuse, but it does show you what the human spirit can overcome.
December 3, 2019
Empty Chairs by Suzanne Burke
I have been impressed with Ms. Burke’s storytelling abilities and have read several of her fictional thrillers. I’m not a big fan of memoirs since, for the most part, the story is all about the person told from the person’s point of view. Generally, that point of view is somewhat egocentric and usually an attempt to explain away certain events without the mia culpa aspect. I have to tell you this story is quite different. Ms. Burke presents a no holds barred look at her young life.
The book opens with examples of horrible neglect and abuse by her mother and an endless stream of men who paid to abuse and have sex with a child. There seemed to be no way out of the situation but death. This kind of childhood would have broken anyone and have made a logical excuse for a life of anti-social behavior. Ms. Burke is much better than that. She took matters into her own hands and battled her way out of her mother’s house at eleven years old. Having nowhere to go, she took to the streets. Here is where this memoir takes a turn. Instead of glorifying her ability to survive, Ms. Burke continually provides the reader with moral lessons on what not to do when one is experiencing homelessness.
In short, Ms. Burke does not paint a picture of heroic deeds done in spite of being homeless. She accurately portrays the condition of homelessness for what it is a frightening, lonely, and dangerous way to live. I suspect one of Ms. Burke’s goals in writing the memoir was to keep anyone reading the story from ever contemplating going out and trying the experience. Also, she paints a picture of the homeless that is sure to increase understanding of those not so inflicted.
This book is not a preachy, self-righteous, get it off my chest kind of thing. It is raw, gritty, and tells a frightening story. I would recommend it to anyone who likes excellent writing and a story that reads almost like a piece of thriller fiction.
I have been impressed with Ms. Burke’s storytelling abilities and have read several of her fictional thrillers. I’m not a big fan of memoirs since, for the most part, the story is all about the person told from the person’s point of view. Generally, that point of view is somewhat egocentric and usually an attempt to explain away certain events without the mia culpa aspect. I have to tell you this story is quite different. Ms. Burke presents a no holds barred look at her young life.
The book opens with examples of horrible neglect and abuse by her mother and an endless stream of men who paid to abuse and have sex with a child. There seemed to be no way out of the situation but death. This kind of childhood would have broken anyone and have made a logical excuse for a life of anti-social behavior. Ms. Burke is much better than that. She took matters into her own hands and battled her way out of her mother’s house at eleven years old. Having nowhere to go, she took to the streets. Here is where this memoir takes a turn. Instead of glorifying her ability to survive, Ms. Burke continually provides the reader with moral lessons on what not to do when one is experiencing homelessness.
In short, Ms. Burke does not paint a picture of heroic deeds done in spite of being homeless. She accurately portrays the condition of homelessness for what it is a frightening, lonely, and dangerous way to live. I suspect one of Ms. Burke’s goals in writing the memoir was to keep anyone reading the story from ever contemplating going out and trying the experience. Also, she paints a picture of the homeless that is sure to increase understanding of those not so inflicted.
This book is not a preachy, self-righteous, get it off my chest kind of thing. It is raw, gritty, and tells a frightening story. I would recommend it to anyone who likes excellent writing and a story that reads almost like a piece of thriller fiction.
May 13, 2018
There are no words to describe how unsettling this book is, or to address the horrific life the author endured as a child, starting at a very young age. Likewise, there are no words to describe a mother who would prostitute, beat, and abuse her own child. I put off reading this for a long time because I knew there would be no filter, just the raw reality of a traumatic and ghastly life.
Setting all that aside, this is the story of a child whose spirit refuses to be broken. Who rises above the circumstances she was dealt and finds a way to endure. The reader follows her through years of abuse, the triumph of escaping her prison, then her struggle to survive on the streets.
Told in a straightforward, frank style, the book is hard to put down. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for the author to relive these memories. These are circumstances any individual would pay to forget. That Stacey Danson shared her story, even became ill from the torment of memories, speaks of her grit and determination. Living on the street is not a choice anyone willing makes, but as the author shows, sometimes it is the only choice.
Do not be put off by the ending, for the story continues in Faint Echoes of Laughter. Even if you choose not to continue the author’s journey in that book, Empty Chairs, is well worth time spent. A powerful story, it is an eye-opener to a life of cruel adversity and necessary survival.
Setting all that aside, this is the story of a child whose spirit refuses to be broken. Who rises above the circumstances she was dealt and finds a way to endure. The reader follows her through years of abuse, the triumph of escaping her prison, then her struggle to survive on the streets.
Told in a straightforward, frank style, the book is hard to put down. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for the author to relive these memories. These are circumstances any individual would pay to forget. That Stacey Danson shared her story, even became ill from the torment of memories, speaks of her grit and determination. Living on the street is not a choice anyone willing makes, but as the author shows, sometimes it is the only choice.
Do not be put off by the ending, for the story continues in Faint Echoes of Laughter. Even if you choose not to continue the author’s journey in that book, Empty Chairs, is well worth time spent. A powerful story, it is an eye-opener to a life of cruel adversity and necessary survival.
January 4, 2020
This was hard to read at the beginning. The trauma she experienced was brutal for someone so young. The ending was a little abrupt and hurried. It wasn’t a smooth transition to the final and last chapter.
February 23, 2018
Everybody should attempt to read this! It broke my heart in places, I was plunged into a world of chid abuse and horror of which totally floored me. It took my breath away.
The scenes of indescribable sexual horror begin from page one. Sassy has to experience these nightmares from the age of three at her mother's behest until she revolts at the age of eleven, for a life alone on the streets with all its perils. I was staggered.
Written under the author's pen name of Stacey Danson, it is an autobiographical statement that displays such bravery and a sheer honesty, the likes of which,I've never come across before.
I see there is a book two out and I will get to it. I hope her life is a happy one now. Nobody should have to endure such horror and pain, either both physical or mental.
The scenes of indescribable sexual horror begin from page one. Sassy has to experience these nightmares from the age of three at her mother's behest until she revolts at the age of eleven, for a life alone on the streets with all its perils. I was staggered.
Written under the author's pen name of Stacey Danson, it is an autobiographical statement that displays such bravery and a sheer honesty, the likes of which,I've never come across before.
I see there is a book two out and I will get to it. I hope her life is a happy one now. Nobody should have to endure such horror and pain, either both physical or mental.
May 20, 2011
When I began reading Empty Chairs by Stacey Danson I was completely unprepared for what I would find. If it were a novel, I would have put it down. The matter-of-fact narration depicting extreme sexual exploitation of a small child by her mother turned my stomach. But Empty Chairs isn't a novel. It is Stacy Danson's life story. I read on through tears; my heart filled with horror, sympathy, and anger. But I read on.
In her superbly written auto-biography, the author unfolds a vision of hell that few can imagine, but is the life of far too many innocent children in our society. Stacy was beaten brutally and repeatedly. She was forced to service a stream of men who paid her mother - not occasionally, but every day. When her mother wasn't pleased with her performance Stacy was locked away in a dark closet where claustrophobia threatened her sanity. Stacy was only three.
Her earliest memories are of abuse. Stacy was only five when her mother sold her virginity to the highest bidder and she was brutally raped. The daily torment continued until Stacy, in an amazing act of defiance, at last said no and ran away. She had only been allowed to attend three years of school, between six and nine years old, and at eleven was alone on the harsh streets of Kings Cross in Sydney, Australia. But Stacy survived.
In her short time attending school she learned to read. Her love of reading, and her hunger for knowledge, has continued for over forty years, as is apparent in her masterful writing. Horrific details of her life are delivered in almost emotionless, matter-of-fact clarity, and her dark humor is equally dead-pan. Yes, I laughed at times, in a very somber way. But without that detachment and humor the story would be too tragic to read.
I am friends with the author on facebook, as I am with many fellow writers. We rarely interact, but I saw a post that her blog was nearing two-hundred followers and she was giving away copies of Empty Chairs once she reached two-hundred. I went to her blog and followed it. I was number two-hundred. She emailed the book and told me it was her auto-biography and might be hard to read. I never imagined. It was the hardest thing I have ever read. I can not possibly understand how hard it was to write.
Though I think this book should be read by every adult on the planet, I must warn you it is a glimpse into hell. Stacy carries the emotional and physical scars, some severe, to this day, but I am amazed she even survived. It is far more unfathomable that she grew into such a strong and beautiful human being, and equally wonderful writer. I am quite honored now to be on her friends list. But as she says, she didn't just survive, she choose to live, and she choose to speak out and shine a light into the dark corners of our world that most of us chose to ignore.
Stacy Danson is the pen name of author Suzannah Burke. You can find her on facebook, her blog Soooz Says Stuff, and on twitter @pursoot. You can also visit the Empty Chairs blog.
March 27, 2011
Empty Chairs, by Stacey Danson, is a remarkable piece of writing. This autobiographical insight into the early life of a girl subject to physical and sexual abuse is honest, frank and characterised by a refusal to hide unpleasant detail. That the abuse was initiated by her mother, who acted as her pimp, when Stacey was the tender age of 3, makes the revelations all the more horrific.
It is natural to expect that an account of this type would be driven by bitterness and revenge but the author manages to tell her story without undue hostility. And that, in itself, is an amazing feat. If ever a woman had just cause to resent the world into which she was born, Stacey Danson is that woman. But she simply lays out the facts; emotional, physical, mental, spiritual and rational. There are places where the text is almost too hard to read. I have been kept awake nights by some of her descriptions. This is, as you would expect, a difficult book to read. But I urge you to read it simply because it is hard.
The prose style is simple, yet eloquent. She writes pretty much as you would expect her to think and spares none of the expletives that, for her, have been an integral part of her upbringing. There is no attempt to deviate from the truth for effect, no attempt to embroider or exaggerate the facts. The simple truth is enough here, and Stacey has recognised that and allowed integrity to describe her experiences.
I am, by nature, an optimist and a lover of women in general. The experience of this book has caused me to question some of my beliefs about people more than any other work I’ve read; and I include such classics as All Quiet on the Western Front and A Town Like Alice as examples of man’s inhumanity in this comparison.
Men and women, authorities and victims, the respected and the reviled, all feature in this book as adults. And all are shown as flawed, many of them seriously so. There are those who simply looked the other way and thus allowed the terrible abuse to continue. There are those who worked in trusted occupations and yet tormented and harmed the vulnerable child they should have been protecting. There are those who exploited, or wished to exploit, a girl who so distrusted people that even those who might have been her friends could not win her trust. And, in the end, it was the children, the other victims, who rescued her from what might otherwise have been a violent and untimely death.
There is no sentimentality, no attempt to rouse the reader’s pity, in the words on these pages. What you get is the simple truth of a life damaged and abused. Yet, through it all, the spirit of the writer rises and grows to become aware of the greater world and, as the book ends, to begin to wonder if there are, after all, some good people in the world, after all.
Stacey wrote this account to alert the world to the reality of child abuse; to tell those complacent souls who blind themselves to facts, by blaming victims, that sometimes children have no choice; to educate those in authority about the reality of life on the streets for the abused. But she has achieved something more than that. She has made a work of such integrity that the reader emerges from the experience both wiser and more compassionate. And she has earned the unbounded admiration of this reader for telling it exactly as it is.
It is natural to expect that an account of this type would be driven by bitterness and revenge but the author manages to tell her story without undue hostility. And that, in itself, is an amazing feat. If ever a woman had just cause to resent the world into which she was born, Stacey Danson is that woman. But she simply lays out the facts; emotional, physical, mental, spiritual and rational. There are places where the text is almost too hard to read. I have been kept awake nights by some of her descriptions. This is, as you would expect, a difficult book to read. But I urge you to read it simply because it is hard.
The prose style is simple, yet eloquent. She writes pretty much as you would expect her to think and spares none of the expletives that, for her, have been an integral part of her upbringing. There is no attempt to deviate from the truth for effect, no attempt to embroider or exaggerate the facts. The simple truth is enough here, and Stacey has recognised that and allowed integrity to describe her experiences.
I am, by nature, an optimist and a lover of women in general. The experience of this book has caused me to question some of my beliefs about people more than any other work I’ve read; and I include such classics as All Quiet on the Western Front and A Town Like Alice as examples of man’s inhumanity in this comparison.
Men and women, authorities and victims, the respected and the reviled, all feature in this book as adults. And all are shown as flawed, many of them seriously so. There are those who simply looked the other way and thus allowed the terrible abuse to continue. There are those who worked in trusted occupations and yet tormented and harmed the vulnerable child they should have been protecting. There are those who exploited, or wished to exploit, a girl who so distrusted people that even those who might have been her friends could not win her trust. And, in the end, it was the children, the other victims, who rescued her from what might otherwise have been a violent and untimely death.
There is no sentimentality, no attempt to rouse the reader’s pity, in the words on these pages. What you get is the simple truth of a life damaged and abused. Yet, through it all, the spirit of the writer rises and grows to become aware of the greater world and, as the book ends, to begin to wonder if there are, after all, some good people in the world, after all.
Stacey wrote this account to alert the world to the reality of child abuse; to tell those complacent souls who blind themselves to facts, by blaming victims, that sometimes children have no choice; to educate those in authority about the reality of life on the streets for the abused. But she has achieved something more than that. She has made a work of such integrity that the reader emerges from the experience both wiser and more compassionate. And she has earned the unbounded admiration of this reader for telling it exactly as it is.
February 25, 2011
The first thing I have to say about this book is the remarkable human spirit found in Stacey. Stacey’s courage and extraordinary spirit make this story shine. No eleven year old should ever have had to live through such prolonged child abuse along with the sadness, fear and trauma of life on the street.
At first this story sickened me, not because of content but because I’m a mother. There is more kindness shown by strangers then flesh and blood in this story. I look at my daughter, at five and shudder at the thought of some stranger doing these unspeakable things to my child, any child. To know that a mother, someone who is supposed to nurture and protect, is the one behind the horrendous treatment chills me to the core but again, it is Stacy’s courage, her survival instinct which had her fighting back and me cheering for the strength I don’t feel even as an adult.
Living each day on the streets with Stacy was eye opening and heart wrenching. All I wanted to do as I read through my tears was take this child in my arms and tell her that evil would no longer reside in her life. Her smart mouth, Sassy Girl mouth, brought a small smile to my lips and I felt encouraged by such tenacity and bravery.
And although the ending does hold some answers to how she survives I long to read more to see how this courageous little girl has become the adult she is today. And for this reason I hope Stacy can tell more of her story.
Empty Chairs shows how some people are simply evil and the disgusting individuals that walk free in our world. It also shows the bravery of a young Sassy girl and the kindness that may not counteract all that is malevolent but gives hope that there is good in people. Jamie, Carol, Animal and Mrs MacDowell are the shining lights in this otherwise dark story with the sparkling light of Stacy in the centre.
Not only is this a chilling, heart wrenching story but it is a story delivered with finesse and Stacey’s own unique way of observing life. Her reflections and perceptions of life then and now bring a further depth to this outstanding tale.
At first this story sickened me, not because of content but because I’m a mother. There is more kindness shown by strangers then flesh and blood in this story. I look at my daughter, at five and shudder at the thought of some stranger doing these unspeakable things to my child, any child. To know that a mother, someone who is supposed to nurture and protect, is the one behind the horrendous treatment chills me to the core but again, it is Stacy’s courage, her survival instinct which had her fighting back and me cheering for the strength I don’t feel even as an adult.
Living each day on the streets with Stacy was eye opening and heart wrenching. All I wanted to do as I read through my tears was take this child in my arms and tell her that evil would no longer reside in her life. Her smart mouth, Sassy Girl mouth, brought a small smile to my lips and I felt encouraged by such tenacity and bravery.
And although the ending does hold some answers to how she survives I long to read more to see how this courageous little girl has become the adult she is today. And for this reason I hope Stacy can tell more of her story.
Empty Chairs shows how some people are simply evil and the disgusting individuals that walk free in our world. It also shows the bravery of a young Sassy girl and the kindness that may not counteract all that is malevolent but gives hope that there is good in people. Jamie, Carol, Animal and Mrs MacDowell are the shining lights in this otherwise dark story with the sparkling light of Stacy in the centre.
Not only is this a chilling, heart wrenching story but it is a story delivered with finesse and Stacey’s own unique way of observing life. Her reflections and perceptions of life then and now bring a further depth to this outstanding tale.
March 11, 2011
My son cried and cried as I tried to rush home. I wanted to run through the stop lights as I cursed myself for not leaving earlier. He was only four months.When I arrived home, my son looked at me teary-eyed as if I were the worst parent in the world – and I felt like it.
Then I read Empty Chair by Stacey Danson.
When I read A Child Called It, I couldn’t believe that the narrator was only the third worst case of abuse in the area. What could be worse, I wondered.
Reading Empty Chairs gave me the answer.
When I read I Know Why the Cagebird Sings, I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than being sexually abused by a relative.
Empty Chairs taught me things could be much worse.
Even Sister Rose’s pamphlets about the saving teenage prostitutes off the
streets for the charity Covenant House seemed like child’s play in comparison to Empty Chairs.
It’s hard to imagine any parent being so evil as Stacey Danson’s, aka Sassy. The book shone a light into a dark corner. It’d be difficult to read such horrors if it wasn’t for Sassy. She makes reading this book a pleasure. While terrible things are happening all around her, she somehow finds a way to make it through. Certain scenes, like school and with Animal, I laughed. Other times I cringed. It’s hard to imagine another book that packs a stronger emotional punch.
I couldn’t help rooting for Sassy. This, more than anything, is a story of an eleven year old girl surviving on the streets. I found it very moving. If I didn’t, I would have questioned my own humanity.
I wanted to ask the author a few questions and was glad she let me. Check out the interview: http://stpeterkilledgod.blogspot.com/...
Then I read Empty Chair by Stacey Danson.
When I read A Child Called It, I couldn’t believe that the narrator was only the third worst case of abuse in the area. What could be worse, I wondered.
Reading Empty Chairs gave me the answer.
When I read I Know Why the Cagebird Sings, I thought there couldn’t be anything worse than being sexually abused by a relative.
Empty Chairs taught me things could be much worse.
Even Sister Rose’s pamphlets about the saving teenage prostitutes off the
streets for the charity Covenant House seemed like child’s play in comparison to Empty Chairs.
It’s hard to imagine any parent being so evil as Stacey Danson’s, aka Sassy. The book shone a light into a dark corner. It’d be difficult to read such horrors if it wasn’t for Sassy. She makes reading this book a pleasure. While terrible things are happening all around her, she somehow finds a way to make it through. Certain scenes, like school and with Animal, I laughed. Other times I cringed. It’s hard to imagine another book that packs a stronger emotional punch.
I couldn’t help rooting for Sassy. This, more than anything, is a story of an eleven year old girl surviving on the streets. I found it very moving. If I didn’t, I would have questioned my own humanity.
I wanted to ask the author a few questions and was glad she let me. Check out the interview: http://stpeterkilledgod.blogspot.com/...
August 13, 2012
This review is also on my blog http://onlectus.blogspot.com/2012/07/...
This book is not for the faint of heart. I was taken aback since the very third paragraph. I have read a couple of books on this topic but never felt what I felt while reading this book. I was enraged and not sure at whom (Gwen or the perverts?).
If you can stomach reading about a 5-year old girl being abused (from all sides and forms) then by all means read the book. But if the very thought of child molestation infuriates and disgusts you, then just don’t.
I literally had to read most sentences thrice to make sure that what I was reading was actually written. “He burnt the inside of my vagina with a cigarette butt…” Yes, that is what’s going on in this story. The language is real, without the euphemisms of words, and sometimes cruel.
At age 11 she ran away and lived on the streets. How does an 11-year old girl survive on her own? Well, read the book.
This book reminds of “Living dead girl” as regards the degradation of a young soul, however Danson’s story is real and Scott’s is fictional.
Some Amazon reviewers gave one star to the book because “it has not ending.” Well, it does have an ending; I just don’t know how you missed it. If you are reading a book and all it has is about 10 pages left to end…, I think that is a pretty good indicator that the story is about to finish, and soon. It didn’t finish the way you expected? Well, that it’s a different story. But that is salvaged with “Faint Echoes of Laughter” Danson’s second book.
Readers wanted to know what happened to Gwen and her friends and how she kept on. The answer is here.
This book is not for the faint of heart. I was taken aback since the very third paragraph. I have read a couple of books on this topic but never felt what I felt while reading this book. I was enraged and not sure at whom (Gwen or the perverts?).
If you can stomach reading about a 5-year old girl being abused (from all sides and forms) then by all means read the book. But if the very thought of child molestation infuriates and disgusts you, then just don’t.
I literally had to read most sentences thrice to make sure that what I was reading was actually written. “He burnt the inside of my vagina with a cigarette butt…” Yes, that is what’s going on in this story. The language is real, without the euphemisms of words, and sometimes cruel.
At age 11 she ran away and lived on the streets. How does an 11-year old girl survive on her own? Well, read the book.
This book reminds of “Living dead girl” as regards the degradation of a young soul, however Danson’s story is real and Scott’s is fictional.
Some Amazon reviewers gave one star to the book because “it has not ending.” Well, it does have an ending; I just don’t know how you missed it. If you are reading a book and all it has is about 10 pages left to end…, I think that is a pretty good indicator that the story is about to finish, and soon. It didn’t finish the way you expected? Well, that it’s a different story. But that is salvaged with “Faint Echoes of Laughter” Danson’s second book.
Readers wanted to know what happened to Gwen and her friends and how she kept on. The answer is here.
October 3, 2014
Empty Chairs is a true story written by a child abuse victim.
Remarkable. The absolute hell this woman experienced as a child is horrific. Words are inadequate to describe her childhood, yet I tried. I have never, ever, read or heard of a more hellish childhood. Thankfully, she escaped and lived in freedom on the streets of Australia. Yes, it was freedom compared to her hell. Yet it was, and is, her courage, spirit, and absolute unwillingness to give up that makes this more than a story of child abuse. She is the strongest, most courageous, most amazing woman. She wrote her hell! She relived her hell! She found happy moments! She found joy in simple things like stars, sunshine, art, books, and bathing. Those times are sweet. :) Her memory is both astonishing and sad. I do wish she didn't remember so much and, at the same time, I'm glad she did so her story can help others.
What happens to Sassy girl? Read for yourself. :)
Thank you, Stacey, for sharing your story.
Remarkable. The absolute hell this woman experienced as a child is horrific. Words are inadequate to describe her childhood, yet I tried. I have never, ever, read or heard of a more hellish childhood. Thankfully, she escaped and lived in freedom on the streets of Australia. Yes, it was freedom compared to her hell. Yet it was, and is, her courage, spirit, and absolute unwillingness to give up that makes this more than a story of child abuse. She is the strongest, most courageous, most amazing woman. She wrote her hell! She relived her hell! She found happy moments! She found joy in simple things like stars, sunshine, art, books, and bathing. Those times are sweet. :) Her memory is both astonishing and sad. I do wish she didn't remember so much and, at the same time, I'm glad she did so her story can help others.
What happens to Sassy girl? Read for yourself. :)
Thank you, Stacey, for sharing your story.
June 26, 2011
I would have given this five stars had it not been for the ending or should I say non-ending. I read this on my kindle app and kept trying to turn the page for the next chapter because I didn't realize it was over. I then thought that the whole book had not been downloaded and was dismayed when I figured out that was the ending and that the author had not written another book to continue the story. I was left very unsatisfied because I wanted to know how the rest of the author's story played out. Overall I thought it was a fascinating story and an extremely quick read.
February 13, 2011
If you only buy one work of non fiction make it Empty Chairs by Stacey Danson.
This book of child abuse shook me to the core.
This book of child abuse shook me to the core.
July 4, 2012
Good reading but ended too abruptly. Hope there's a follow up book. It's hard to comprehend how cruel some people can be and the will to survive by some.
October 29, 2013
I love a good memoir. This is not meant for the faint at heart. Very raw, and left me thinking about it for months after!
February 13, 2020
I am numb. This memoir by Stacey Danson is a strong & power packed book on the reality of being a survivor of child sexual & physical abuse. The memoir is inspiring, shocking & showcases the indomitable spirit of a little girl against her demons. This book is not for the faint of heart. However, I implore people who want to read the truth about the reality of child abuse to read this book. Again, I caution the reader that this book is not comforting in anyway, it is the truth about a life born into child abuse & then finding the only way out of it all is to take to the streets as a homeless person. Once I started reading this disturbing book about the author's childhood, I couldn't put it down because I wanted her to survive & survive she does. How? That's for you to read in the book that defines what it means to be standing tall against all odds - read 'Empty Chairs'. I encourage anyone working with children to please read this book about the author's harrowing tale of her childhood, nay, toddler-hood only knowing about how to be a 'toy' in the hands of monsters. Educators & social workers must read this book. Enter the world of of a girl whose 'so called' mother was worse than the monsters who invaded her life & turned it into a living hell. Such a hell that the author took to living life at the tender age of 11 on the streets of Australia. Read & create awareness about child abuse. Read & know that not all girls have happy childhoods. Read & be appalled by the way we keep on turning a blind eye to this menace that is the reality of so many children's lives - create awareness & read this book. I would one more time want to caution those who have been abused as children to read the book only if you are mentally & psychologically ready for it as it could trigger terrible memories. I personally now will strive with the author to promote this book wherever & however I can & create an awareness about the sad & miserable plight of children who are victims of child abuse. There is a saying that the biggest thief is the one who steals a person's childhood - let's read 'Empty Chairs' & know that line of the Bible, in the book of Isaiah 49:15 that sometimes even mothers forget, but God doesn't forget his own. All power & good wishes from me to the author for her bravery, fortitude, resilience & determination to write this book. God bless her ! Salute ! I am touched to the core by Danson's survival & I loved references made in the book to the television shows, music & the love of reading that the author used to cope with her trauma. I hope to read more books penned by this author in the near future. This book has had a earth shattering effect on me & the sheltered life that I lead.
September 25, 2017
This true story from Stacey Danson aka Suzanne Burke captivated me from the first word to the last. How could any so-called mother inflict such horrific and sadistic abuse on her young daughter? What kind of sick mind would let her think it was okay to sell her child’s body to soothe her addition? Sassy-Girl’s mother, that’s who. So, when this child made the decision to run, looking forward to life on the streets as opposed to her current “life in hell,” I cheered for her. Did it matter that she’d beaten her mother severely? Hell no! I cheered for that too. But, this young girl of ten years old couldn’t have been more lost as she struggled to learn the rules of the streets. The daily chore of finding a safe place to wait out the nights proved difficult. Her instinctive distrust of people, in general, was her biggest ally. But, the part of the book where Sassy-Girl celebrated her first ever Christmas broke my heart. As she watched the families play in the park with children who ran and laughed and played, she realized on a small scale just what she’d missed. And the moment she started to think she had a grip of living on the streets, the unthinkable happened. A brutal rape that left her incapacitated for days on end only served to strengthen her resolve to not let herself be vulnerable ever again. And, when she lay sick and unable to move for days, I began to fear she would die. All I can say about this book is that if you think homeless kids on the streets are all thugs or brats, you need to sit down and read this. My heart will never forget this young child and the many others out there today like her. Stacey Danson bared her soul in such a way that at times I almost felt like an intruder for reading. This is a well-written gripping story from start to finish. But, if you are squeamish or faint-of-heart, this book might push you over the edge.
January 10, 2018
It is the mid-1960s in Sydney, Australia, and Stacey is a young girl who has been raised by a single mother who is physically abusive and allows her doctor boyfriend to sexually abuse her daughter to please him. Shortly after Stacey turns eleven, she suddenly fights back, beating her mother, then escaping from her home to find refuge on the streets. But in a life where Stacey has learned to trust no one, how will she handle surviving on her own in neighborhoods with gangs, prostitution, and pimps. This is a personal story of the author looking back forty years at the darkest time of her life. It is a tough tale told through a very jaded personal perspective, which may turn some readers off at the horrific and seemingly hopeless details. Even though the time frame is in the sixties, there were some moments when I wondered about the accuracy of Stacey’s memory, as she seemed to attain a collection of some items and meals early with a small amount of money, but the inner expressions of her trust and defensive attitudes provided a very interesting perspective into the mindset of someone facing this trial. Her gumption at rejecting a darker, more submissive path against the pressure surrounding her provides a tinge of hope regarding her circumstances. It was a strong reflective story.
July 21, 2017
What a cruel story! It started with something like a big slap in the face. This young girl, a baby, was used by her own mother as a piece of merchandize. I have read about wicked mothers, but this one topped them all. She added heartlessness to her wickedness. I could not believe what this young girl, who went by the street name, Sassy Girl, had to go through. By the time the story ended, I had forgotten her real name, Stacey. A name she never used.
She runs from a mother, and a hell house into the streets, alone, afraid, hungry and in danger for her life. All through her life on the streets, I read, waiting for something terrible to happen to her. But then, her life on the street was nothing but death itself. She risked her life every single moment she walked the streets, the parks, the crannies, even the people she met. She couldn’t and wouldn’t trust anyone, and then, the story ended, or did it? I don't like Cliffhangers!
The story is very traumatizing to the reader, how much more Stacey who lived it. I could only feel my heart ripping off for this little girl. What a wasted way to live. But Stacey lived long enough to write her story.
She runs from a mother, and a hell house into the streets, alone, afraid, hungry and in danger for her life. All through her life on the streets, I read, waiting for something terrible to happen to her. But then, her life on the street was nothing but death itself. She risked her life every single moment she walked the streets, the parks, the crannies, even the people she met. She couldn’t and wouldn’t trust anyone, and then, the story ended, or did it? I don't like Cliffhangers!
The story is very traumatizing to the reader, how much more Stacey who lived it. I could only feel my heart ripping off for this little girl. What a wasted way to live. But Stacey lived long enough to write her story.
November 14, 2020
Empty Chairs was horrifying, yet absorbing. At once, realistic, and a journey into the mind of a young girl who had been horrifically abused. And to think it is all true. I cheered her on as she ran, fought back, and survived horrible circumstances. I could not put this book down, wanting to see her discover some sort of life and survival that was livable.
This is a very good book and well-written, but not for the faint of heart.
This is a very good book and well-written, but not for the faint of heart.
November 16, 2016
Good reads
I liked how detailed the book was. She had many good descriptions. I would recommend this book to someone who likes non-fiction. I also chose this rating, because it didn't tell the rest of the story.
I liked how detailed the book was. She had many good descriptions. I would recommend this book to someone who likes non-fiction. I also chose this rating, because it didn't tell the rest of the story.
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