Secrets de famille

by Jean-Yves Soucy, Dionne Annette Cécile et Yvonne

They were the "miracle babies"--five identical girls born on a farm, who went on to become the biggest celebrities of their day. Now, for the first time, the three surviving Dionne quintuplets tell their story--from their bizarre, socially isolated childhood, to the physical and sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents, to their inspiring triumph over their difficulties. Includes never-before-published photos.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, Autobiography, History, Biography Memoir

317 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Megan Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had earlier read "We Were Five", which the Dionnes had told to an author a few decades before this book. The biggest change was that now that their parents had died they revealed the sexual abuse at the hands of their father. When Annette told her priest how her father would molest her when he took her out for a drive, he advised her to wear a thicker coat.

The tale of the Dionne quintuplets is very sad. They seem to have fonder memories of when they were institutionalized than after they were returned to their parents at the age of 9. Every one around them used them for their own gain. Now there's no need to travel to "Quintland" to pay admission and peer at the children. We get it right from TLC.

[Christine Delles hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I read about them was filled with such negative feelings for their parents and their father in particular. This book, written after his death, explores the emotional, physical and sexual abuse these kids faced at the hands of their parents. And the hatred they received from their parents and siblings. It's so amazing that they were finally able to break away and live their own lives. Sad that the only happiness they knew as children was as wards of the government.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good (at times great) read about the strange, strange lives of the Dionne quintuplets. I knew they were raised in a kind of isolated fishbowl, like sideshow attractions. But a lot of this is news to me, and in a very odd coincidence, right after I complained on GR about how hard it is to find a book about someone who's been subjected to gaslighting, I started reading this book -- the memoir of 5 people who were raised from infancy in the glow of the gaslight and struggled for years to find the clear light of day. I could almost physically feel it as each sister got another piece of her freedom into her hands at last. This one is well worth your time.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbingly compelling. I read it in one night. I was saddened by their circumstances as well as by the failure of the adults around them to protect them... esp. those adults in the Church. Priase God, there was mention of one priest finally speaking up for Emelie... at her wake. I was grateful that the girls still loved and trusted God through their ordeal. And, they always had one another.

The Dionne quintuplets (born May 28, 1934) are the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. They are the only female identical set of five ever recorded. The sisters were born just outside Callander, Ontario, Canada near the village of Corbeil. Their names were Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne. My parents, born in the late 1920's, remember their births as BIG news.

Emilie died at 20 due to suffocation during an epileptic seizure. Marie died at 35 due to a blood clot in her brain. Yvonne died at 64 of cancer.

Amazon Book Description:
They were the "miracle babies"--five identical girls born on a farm, who went on to become the biggest celebrities of their day. Now, for the first time, the three surviving Dionne quintuplets tell their story--from their bizarre, socially isolated childhood, to the physical and sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents, to their inspiring triumph over their difficulties. Includes never-before-published photos.

[Maryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book came to my attention during a recent tour of the Quints Museum in North Bay, the birth home in 1934 of the Dionne quintuplets. Written by 3 of the Quints and Jean-Yves Soucy, it presents a personal account of their lives until their 20s. It is a sad tale of abuse and exploitation by their family, their doctor and the province. Quintland was the original Disneyland that attracted 3 million visitors to North Bay and area during the peak of the depression. A whole new Quint industry sprang up and provided employment for thousands. The girls were close, supporting and protecting each other as best they could. Against all odds all 5 survived into their 20s when one died of asphyxiation following an epileptic seizure. They were all scarred emotionally and the remaining Quits were disowned by their family once this book was published. It is not particularly well written but is an important perspective on the lives of these children and the 30s in Canada.

[Priscilla Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1934 a French Canadian mother gave birth to quintuplets. Delivered by a midwife in a family farmhouse, miraculously all five girls survived. In the midst of world-wide Depression, this was a story to lift everyone's spirits. The babies were considered a national treasure and were removed from their family, to live in a specially-constructed building, Quintland, where they could be cared for by professional nurses - and where the public could come to see the Quints at play during visiting hours. Many people profited from the sale of Dionne books, dolls, pictures and other souvenirs.

When they were nine, after arduous fighting for their return by their father, the little girls were returned to the family home, where they were strangers to their siblings. In Family Secrets, written by Jean-Yves Soucy with the assistance of surviving Quintuplets Annette, Cecile and Yvonne, their shocking story of abuse, family dissension, and exploitation is finally told.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Quintuplets book- a depressing true story about how life a home was worse then living in QUINTLAND. takes the quints from 9 - early twenties...

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting true story!

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow ... such a sad and tragic story, and it's the age-old story at that: Money corrupts. Admittedly quite a voyeuristic read, I still enjoyed reading the story as told by the surviving sisters themselves. What happened to them was a travesty suffered by so many child stars of their era. It's heartbreaking to think of parents exploiting and abusing their innocent children, and even though it happens every day (even in 2020), I'll never get used to it.

I picked up this book based on an odd poem I found in my late mother-in-law's things. Apparently, when the quintuplets were at the height of their fame as tourist attractions and product sponsors, a newspaper or magazine sponsored a poetry contest: "Which 'Quin' [sic] Would I Adopt"? The very idea of adopting only one of the five sisters is barbaric, but serves to illustrate just how far the "Quint Mania" reached in the North America of the 1930s. Even my kind and intelligent mother-in-law, a school psychologist, sent in a poem. (She chose Marie... not sure why, except maybe that it rhymed with her line "My Paul and I agree.") It was a shockingly stupid thing to find among my mother-in-law's things, but perhaps my in-laws (because they had lived in Canada early in their marriage) even visited "Quintland" to view the sisters in their cage. In any case, that odd legacy spurred me to read this book. And it was a surprisingly good book for all its sadness and tragedy. The three surviving sisters, Yvonne, Cecile, and Annette, all wrote in their forewords that they hoped the parents of multiple births would learn from their story, and hopefully, they have and will continue to do.

Two sisters still survive, Annette and Cecile. Cecile lives in poverty, a ward of the province, after she was exploited yet again (this time by the son who disappeared in 2006 with her remaining funds). Both sisters, though extremely private, still speak out occasionally against exploitation of children in any form. And as experts, they have earned the right.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it different than the other books that I’ve read about the Dionne’s in that it came from the quintuplets views of their situation. Although the sad reality of the quints situation will never change, this book made me feel a little bit better about their life in Quintland. Seems they at least had some happy memories there.

[Baikinange · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to learn about the media circus surrounding the Dionnes' early years, and this was not that book. This was an amateur look at their years after they moved back into the family home through young adulthood.

[Nelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All my life, I have heard about the Dionne quintuplets but had known virtually nothing about their private lives. Until the age of 9, they were raised by nurses and a doctor, in a building close to their parents. When they were 9, their parents finally succeeded in regaining custody of them, and they moved into a large house that had been built for their family, who had 7 other children. That was the beginning of the miserable years, until they were able, at 21, to develop lives of their own, apart from their abusive parents.

What the girls endured, from both their mother and father, is the stuff of nightmares. Physical and emotional abuse, combined with the sexual abuse from their father and an older brother, kept them captive and afraid. It is a heartrending story.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sad sad story. Earlier this month I read “The Quintland Sisters”- a fictionalized story of the Dionne quintuplets. It made me want to know more! Wikipedia wasn’t satisfying so I figured I should actually learn about them from their perspective. These ladies had their lives stolen from them in so many ways, right from the beginning.

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The shocking and depressing story of the Dionne Quintuplets, in their own words. The writing is questionable (the author recreates conversations, a tactic I find very annoying) but the story is compelling.

[Krista Piek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it was interesting and horrible for them, I didn't love the author's style of writing. Also felt the story could have gone beyond where it ended- but it also is an older book. Feel like a different author could have brought more to this story.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are far better accounts of the Dionne Quintuplet’s story. This one is not worth reading.

[Bristol O'Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in their own words, the heartbreaking reality behind one of ontario's biggest scandals.