Vanessa: A Portrait of Evil

by Wensley Clarkson

This is the compelling and disturbing true story of Vanessa George and the evil abuse she doled out upon th children of more than 300 families.As a nursery worker, wife and mother, she was a figure to place trust in. Yet her adulterous relationship and sick love triangle with Colin Blanchard and Angela Allen drew her into a dark world of violence and sexual abuse. To compete for Blanchard's attention she would do everything in her power to impress him, even if this meant committing unspeakable acts of sexual violence on children as young as two years old.What could have driven a mother to betray not only her daughters and loving husband but the very families who entrusted her with their children? How could a seemingly caring women become engaged in a sordid and vile love triangle with a man and woman she had never met? Were there events in her own childhood that pushed her to commit these acts? True crime expert Wensley Clarkson pieces together the events surrounding the case as well as new investigative research to compile a fascinating yet disturbing account of a case which shocked a nation. We may never know the full extent of Vanessa George's cruelty, but the horror of her story will remain as a chilling memory for generations.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

328 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2010

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime story by Wensley Clarkson about a woman working in a child care center in the UK who gets involved in an online affair, and eventually gets into improprieties involving the children in her care to please the man, until she is stopped. Tells the impact on her family and the local area and families as it turns into a major case. A bizarre woman, for sure.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasnt sure I was going to be able to read this book , the subject matter is very confronting. Im glad I did . I thought it was very well written.

[Veronica Noechel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even make it through the entire book. I quit with about 25% left. Nothing particularly interesting or pertinant about the crimes or those who comitted them had been revealed to that point. The introduction indicated that it would somehow show how her childhood had led to the tragedy and inhumanity of her crimes, but it was mostly speculation (little proof, or even concrete allegations in most cases) and clips that are obviously from the same interviews cut up and used again and again throughout the book. I'm a big fan of reading true crime, but this one just wasn't well put together.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course I had heard about this woman and it makes me sick she is walking free now since a week or so. Letting her go while she still is not willing to give the names of the children that were abused angers me to no end.

Yes I understand that at one time she is going to be freed but free her but not like this. They only should have let her go if she would have given the names of all the abused children. Now she is probably going to be protected.
I thik this is not going to be the last we hear about her.

I did find the book interesting because I did not know a lot of things. 3.5

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

UGH..this is the type of true crime book I absolutely abhor....boring, boring....repetitive and more repetitive. Never got into the crimes per se, the author was more concerned with the number of pages in this book. This was a horrifying crime that rocked Britian for sure but it could have been told in a much more interesting way. I ended up feeling like I didn't know any more ending this book then I did beginning it. Not good.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm am a little over halfway through this book and I may not be able to finish it. This book is so repetitive and boring its the type of book I just hate reading. A quick google search of Vanessa George will give you all the info contained within this book. It seems the author just wanted pages and not actual content. Very disappointing. Vanessa George is truly a monster and this book could have been a far more in depth story but it's not. Don't bother buying this just google it.

[Abigail T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy the writing style of this book. It just seemed to be quoted from interviews and press conferences, I also found it quite repetitive.

[Lindsay King · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an evil woman

Vanessa George is a nursery worker from Plymouth who met Colin Blanchard on Facebook and began an unspeakable journey in depravity to please him.
This book was well written and informative but a really difficult subject to read about. I found myself more and more disgusted by Vanessa George's actions the more I read. She did go through a rough time in her teenage years but so have man others and they haven't commuted deplorable acts on innocent children so I did fail to see any connection.
I would recommend this book to all true crime fans that can stomach the difficult subject of pedophilia.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book I ordered on my Kindle. It was an interesting story about a woman with two children of her own, that seemed to get caught in a web with internet partners. The leading partner was a pedifile that convenced her and another woman to get pictures of children for him. It was easy for Vanessa because she was a day care worker. It ended up ruining her life when she was caught and sentenced to prison.

[Sarah Palmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terribly written it seems to be stuck in a loop of hearsay and repeated quotes. I live in the city where this evil bitch committed her crimes . And I personally know a few of the familys. Her story is one that shouldn't be read by anyone. The details are stomach churning. And there is no excuse for what she did. Avoid this book like the plague !

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clinical read without any graphic details. Good reporting without the usual speculation that reporting currently usually contains. Informative regarding the impact this kind of crime committed by an individual has on her family and community.

[Kathleen Leach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolutely horrifying. Subject matter riveting, writing so-so. Kind of wish I'd skipped it though, because it disturbed me so very much.

[Lesleyanne Bathory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seriously hope this creature rots in hell.

[Lisa Litchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about an evil group of monsters

This is a very good account of the terrible crimes this monster did.
She and others committed the most vile of crimes. Well written.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written

Very informative. Good read. Didnt dissapoint. . . . . . . ..... . . . . . . .

[Chloe · Rating 1 out of 5]

It disturbed me that one of the issues that the writer was most unsettled by was that George was very large...

[Kirsten Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's no denying that this book is a challenging read: for the weaker hearts, I implore you to do a bit of research beforehand, as this strongly features paedophilia and rape of minors.

My issue with the book is not necessarily with the content - yes, it's horrific in nature but it's factual and laid out in a precise and easily manageable timeline. My issue was that the author goes to great lengths to fat-shame Vanessa George, almost as if to dehumanise her and depict her as a villain: correct me if I'm wrong but partaking in paedophilia is villainous enough and I highly doubt insulting her image adds anything to it.

I'm not excusing George's crimes, I'm just saying that the author's personal distaste for her is too evident within the text and it takes you out of it. It's up to the reader to determine how they feel about the criminal without the influence of playground insults in every damn paragraph.

That being said, I do believe this book is instrumental in highlighting a lesser talked about aspect of paedophilia in Britain, which is the nuance of women exploiting children. It happens far too often and is talked about far too little, so kudos to this book for not holding back on George's characters because of her gender.

[Holly Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m actually suprised I finished this, I cannot remember about these crimes in the news too young to remember, however what I have read is sick.
These people are sick in the head

The husband should be so proud of himself coming out the other side with the two girls

The people of Plymouth, that nursery I’m so sorry you had to live through that.

The book was good, it went through stages of her younger life, the arrest and investigation to how much she’s charged

I gave it a four because it’s a hard and sad read

[MillardTeethFilledMaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Embarassingly bad. Incredibly lurid, but also very superficial.

[Rachel Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very scary to know that this was going on

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

One word...disturbing.

[Ruth Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A truly disturbing story. At times boring and repetitive.