Someone to Watch Over Me: The True Tale of a Survivor Haunted by the Demons of Abuse

by Izzy Hammond, Robert Potter

"It is my dearest hope that this book will allow me to reach out to others in pain and give them hope, for they too can choose to be a survivor." Izzy Hammond’s deaf and partially blind parents attracted sympathy from the outside world, but no one knew of the horrific abuse their daughter was subjected to inside the family home. In this gripping memoir, Izzy is now able to reveal how the vicious childhood abuse she suffered, first at the hands of her father and then by subsequent predators, cast a shadow over three generations of her family and led to a violent assault upon Izzy by her eldest daughter. Finally able to break the cycle, she has at last reclaimed a life free from the demons that have haunted her for so long.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

Reviews

[Klare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, it’s amazing how different someone else’s life can be to your own. This is a hard topic but very well written.

[K.B. Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well written but an exhausting, depressing story not just because of the horrible physical, mental and emotional abuse but of the failure of the systems meant to protect our young. The message we need to get across to all children is not to harbour secrets. Despite what anyone tells them, if someone is hurting or frightening them they must tell someone they trust and if they can't stop it, tell someone else. The book also demonstrates the value of good professional help and the sooner that is given the more the damage can be contained because what is also clear from this memoir is the ripple effect of abuse. Izzy Hammond is to be commended for her bravery in sharing this story, warts and all, with the unselfish aim to help others.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little younger than the author but can testify to the silencing effect of unspoken rules governing a child's and parents'/adults' behaviour during the 1960s and 1970s. If a child dared to disclose abuse to a trusted adult they were more likely to be punished than protected. This book should be obligatory reading for anyone working with children - child protection workers, teachers, day care staff, health/legal practitioners, police personnel - because it demonstrates how the cycle of abuse (whether self-inflicted or at someone else's hands) cannot be broken unless the people that damaged families come into contact with are able to read the signs of historic and ongoing abuse. The book isn't the easiest read; we learn that there are to be no happy endings for the author as she describes the toll taken on her mental and physical health by years of successive violent relationships, fractured family relationships and an inadequate support network. The writing can be stilted and contrived, perhaps due to Hammond's uneven recollections of key events in her life: relationships, homes and jobs come and go; a reflection of her vulnerability and an exhausting, endless search for safety and stability. Time is a blur, punctuated by fleeting glimpses of happiness but all too often by devastating trauma. This autobiography is no work of art but it feels authentic, the horror and desperation Hammond describes is palpable from start to finish.

[Roselyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another heartbreaking account of a child being abused at the hands of her father and then others while people take pity on the abuser. The torment throughout her lifetime and eventual confrontation of the past in order to break the cycle of abuse.

Well written.

[Clare Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book

[Linzi Roe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really difficult read but couldn’t put it down hoping to find some sort of “happy ending”. Heartbreaking account of a survivor of child abuse.

[Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked from page one. I wanted to know how she was going to get passed this childhood of horror. Her father I feel was a man filled with hatred. Maybe due to what he was dealt in life. His disabilities? Maybe he had a father who treated him the same way? One will never know. Her mother, I think she was a victim as much as her child was. I think her disability was also her childlike way. She looked at her as doll to dress in my eyes. (If I am not mistaken this was noted in the book.) I do not feel Izzy was right in treating her loving "adopted" family in such a bad way. When she was around them. I do know children who are so severly abused take it out on the ones they truely love and feel safe with. I also think as Izzy got older she could have chose another route. By being with abusive men she endangered her children. She had to have seen some sign in these men before she chose to have babies with them. Her daughter then acted out those same abusive ways. Lets hope her grandchildren did not see this :(
I feel sorry for this woman I really do. She seems to never have had peace in her life. The pattern just keep repeating in her life. It does seem she found a man who did not abuse her n the end. But then had to suffer pain due to her life before him. I am glad she was able to go back to her birth father and let him know his secret would no longer be a secret. I hope she can heal from the writing of this book.

[Marnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I go from one tragic subject to another on my reading this week. First to the author, my heart goes out to you in many ways for all that you have had to endure and to all the time that it has taken for you to heal and also to put your family together again because of the things that happened to you as a child and teen. Abuse is such a subject that many do not talk about or even turn their backs on when this occurs as no one wants to believe these terrible things do happen every day. It is even less heard of to hear about child abuse inflicted from parents that have disabilities and I have recently learned that it is often pushed under the rug as that they can't be held accountable for such things because they are disabled in one way or another. Your story needed to be told. Not only so people can learn and understand that this can happen to any child under any circumstance of an adult, but to know that there is help out there to learn to not forget, but to heal oneself mentally and physically. Kudos to you.

[Sophie Mumford · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw this in store I thought "it's probably going to be the same as any other true story about abuses." So I decided not to buy it. Then a couple of days ago me and my friend were just talking and she said that I might like this book, so I gave it a go. This book is sooo inspirational that I cried through it. It is not the same any other book it is so different and when you read it you get a lump in your throat because you feel so sorry for the lady and also the fact that this actually does happen. Best book I have ever read!!!

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a horrific story of real-life, heart breaking. I don't know what else to say other than this is a terrific triumph of defeat against all the odds. The things this women had to suffer is unbelievable, and something that should never have to be endured at the hands of such sadistic and cruel men. Justice has surely not been given, and the people that enforced such awful acts of violence, rape and abuse against this women, deserve to be rightly charged for their crimes.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Another good read about true accounts of child and domestic abuse. I was astonished at how much pain and suffering one human can go through in a lifetime. it really made me feel fortunate. I applaud this woman for her incredible strength and determination. You definitely should give this a read.

[Clare afshar-gibney · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really can't belive all the pain, abuse and heartache one person can take. very emotional book that made me cry. such a brave woman!

[Sabrina Rutter]

I have put my book somewhere & can't find it:(
It's in my house, but mysteriously I'm unable to locate it.

[Erin Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling, some people are evil to the core. Unfortunately this woman met alot of them. Glad to see she managed to get over the past and find a good man and happy family.

[Laura jones]

another shocking book of how a child was abused and let down by the system even though it was a different age a compelling book that makes your heart cry out to help

[LAURA JONES · Rating 5 out of 5]

another heart breaking story of a girl struggling to find her way in the world fighting abuse neglect and family relationships. born to parents with disabilities she was unwanted neglected and abused when they finally took her to live with them after a happy time living with other family measures. this is a heartbreaking story of how she had to find her way in the world paying a very high price to survive. as a result of her early years she ended up in destructive and abusive adult relationships plus the bonds she formed with her children is truly heart wrenching well worth reading