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Silent Trauma
When Meg Matthews gives an interview on the local radio station it leads to a friendship with three other women. They share a terrible secret. Together, can they find the strength to expose the silent trauma they have endured all their lives?
The story is fictional: the facts are real.
The story is fictional: the facts are real.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 29, 2012
6 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Judith Barrow
8 books67 followersJudith Barrow, originally from Saddleworth, a group of villages on the edge of the Pennines, has lived in Pembrokeshire, Wales, for over forty years.
She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David's College, Carmarthen. BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.
She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David's College, Carmarthen. BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 7, 2017
This is such an unusual book. It combines a detailed account of one of the worst drugs scandals I've ever read about with a well-constructed novel about four fictional characters whose lives are deeply scarred by the drug. The drug in question is DES - Diethylstilboestrol - which was given out to thousands of pregnant women in the forties, fifties and sixties to help overcome the threat of miscarriage. It's success was negligible and the after effects on the children and grandchildren truly shocking. And particularly shocking because of the apparent silence relating to the scandal. So, this book is making a substantial contribution to awareness raising but in addition it's a powerful novel that has many more dimensions to it as well as the main theme. The characterisation is a real strength of the novel and the reader is soon deeply involved in the backstories and relationships of the four women. At times it's a stark and bleak novel but there is an overarching sense of resilience derived from standing together which prevents the novel from becoming depressing. I found that the book took a bit of getting into and I diverted to google Diethylstilboestrol to understand more that this was a fictionalised account of a genuine disaster. I'm so glad I persevered - this is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking novels I've read for a long time. Highly recommended.
July 5, 2016
4.5 stars
Judith Barrow wrote this book to bring attention to the trauma sufferered by the victims of the drug Diethylstilboestrol (DES), given to women between the years 1949 and 1971. It was prescribed to prevent miscarriage, but had a devastating effect on the daughters - and possibly the granddaughters - of the women who took it, meaning that they had miscarriages, too, cancers of the reproductive organs usually associated with older women, and other problems to do with that part of the body. Unlike with Thalidomide there has been very little publicity about it, and the women who campaigned for what they had been through and why to be recognised, faced many brick walls.
I think writing a novel about it is such a good way of letting people know about the ongoing tragedy; I would not read an article about it, but I read this. Silent Trauma follows the lives of four women affected by the drug, and the friendship that forms between them: Meg, whose daughter Lisa took her own life; Rachel, whose husband left her because of the change in their marriage due to her depression caused by several miscarriages; Avril, a recluse whose life was shattered by cancer in her teens; and Jackie, caught in a difficult and violent relationship with a woman, herself a product of a difficult upbringing.
Aside from the main purpose of the book, I enjoyed reading about the four women very much; it's a well written, well planned story. The characterisation is terrific, and the situations so real. I've read Judith Barrow's nostalgia orientated, warts and all family sagas set in the north of England during the 40s, 50s and 60s, but actually liked this more. I read it in one sitting. Speaking as one who has never had the urge to have children I cannot imagine how it must feel to want them so badly that you feel like less than a woman if you can't reproduce, but all the emotions were painted so vividly that I felt everything the characters went through, and the situations were met with great understanding and sensitivity.
Jolly well done :)
Judith Barrow wrote this book to bring attention to the trauma sufferered by the victims of the drug Diethylstilboestrol (DES), given to women between the years 1949 and 1971. It was prescribed to prevent miscarriage, but had a devastating effect on the daughters - and possibly the granddaughters - of the women who took it, meaning that they had miscarriages, too, cancers of the reproductive organs usually associated with older women, and other problems to do with that part of the body. Unlike with Thalidomide there has been very little publicity about it, and the women who campaigned for what they had been through and why to be recognised, faced many brick walls.
I think writing a novel about it is such a good way of letting people know about the ongoing tragedy; I would not read an article about it, but I read this. Silent Trauma follows the lives of four women affected by the drug, and the friendship that forms between them: Meg, whose daughter Lisa took her own life; Rachel, whose husband left her because of the change in their marriage due to her depression caused by several miscarriages; Avril, a recluse whose life was shattered by cancer in her teens; and Jackie, caught in a difficult and violent relationship with a woman, herself a product of a difficult upbringing.
Aside from the main purpose of the book, I enjoyed reading about the four women very much; it's a well written, well planned story. The characterisation is terrific, and the situations so real. I've read Judith Barrow's nostalgia orientated, warts and all family sagas set in the north of England during the 40s, 50s and 60s, but actually liked this more. I read it in one sitting. Speaking as one who has never had the urge to have children I cannot imagine how it must feel to want them so badly that you feel like less than a woman if you can't reproduce, but all the emotions were painted so vividly that I felt everything the characters went through, and the situations were met with great understanding and sensitivity.
Jolly well done :)
July 19, 2013
"Silent Trauma" by Judith Barrow touches a sensitive and important issue: drug prescriptions and their dangers in general as well as the effects of Stilboestrol (Diethystilbestrol) which used to be (falsely) prescribed to women to prevent miscarriages.
Well researched and detailed in its medical knowledge the book is an important work to raise awareness and help getting this knowledge into the right channels to prevent more damage and unnecessary suffering for future generations. The effects of the drug are likely to be passed on to the children and grandchildren of those women who took the drug and allegedly many doctors have not been trained in that awareness.
The story of the book follows a few women whose lives have been affected in different ways by the drug: A mother whose daughter killed herself when she is diagnosed with a cancer caused by the drug, an infertile woman whose husband leaves her and a few more sufferers who join them in their fight to bring forth changes in legislation and medical practice.
The book ends on a positive and inspirational note, so please persevere during the earlier and darker chapters during which our heroines are helpless and bitter. It is well worth in the end.
Well researched and detailed in its medical knowledge the book is an important work to raise awareness and help getting this knowledge into the right channels to prevent more damage and unnecessary suffering for future generations. The effects of the drug are likely to be passed on to the children and grandchildren of those women who took the drug and allegedly many doctors have not been trained in that awareness.
The story of the book follows a few women whose lives have been affected in different ways by the drug: A mother whose daughter killed herself when she is diagnosed with a cancer caused by the drug, an infertile woman whose husband leaves her and a few more sufferers who join them in their fight to bring forth changes in legislation and medical practice.
The book ends on a positive and inspirational note, so please persevere during the earlier and darker chapters during which our heroines are helpless and bitter. It is well worth in the end.
November 2, 2016
There are two sides to this moving book. On one side there is the harrowing story of a drug, DES, which, like thalidomide, was given to pregnant women and caused devastating results. But unlike thalidomide, the damage – cancer, infertility and other conditions – wasn’t clearly visible from the start, and a campaign for recognition and compensation went (goes) ignored. Silent Trauma follows the stories of four women, Meg, Rachel, Avril and Jackie, who are all victims of the consequences of DES and who come together in a self-help campaign to publicise their cause. If only there could have been a triumphant ending.
The other side of Silent Trauma, is the simple story of four very different and wholly believable women, caught up in private agonies and desperate relationships, all drawn with immense sympathy. At least in this part of the story, there is a happy conclusion, because they have found one another.
A very strong and involving read.
The other side of Silent Trauma, is the simple story of four very different and wholly believable women, caught up in private agonies and desperate relationships, all drawn with immense sympathy. At least in this part of the story, there is a happy conclusion, because they have found one another.
A very strong and involving read.
January 4, 2013
This thought provoking novel by Judith Barrow makes clever use of fictional characters to sensitively highlight complex issues surrounding the very real problems of a drug, prescribed to millions of women in the US, Australia and Europe.
Meticulously researched, Silent Trauma explores how this drug has since been found to have hidden dangers and serious side effects related to cancer and fertility problems for the daughters, and even grandchildren of the women who took it
Meticulously researched, Silent Trauma explores how this drug has since been found to have hidden dangers and serious side effects related to cancer and fertility problems for the daughters, and even grandchildren of the women who took it
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews