Shannon: Betrayed from Birth

by Rose Martin

On February 19, 2008, Shannon Matthews disappeared while making her way home from a school swimming trip in the UK. The 999 call made by her mother, Karen, alerted the police to the nine-year-old's disappearance and sparked a massive search across the north of England. The story dominated newspaper headlines and television news for the weeks that followed and there was even an offer of a GBP 50,000 reward for the person who found Shannon. Twenty-four days later, Shannon was found, concealed in the base of a divan bed in a flat about a mile away from her home in West Yorkshire. The truth that unfolded over the subsequent weeks horrified the public, who had sympathized with the seemingly stricken mother and even helped in the search for Shannon. It transpired that the abduction of the innocent girl had been a wicked plan dreamed up by her own mother in league with an accomplice, her stepfather's uncle, Michael Donovan. Donovan lured Shannon into his car with the promise of a trip to the fair. For almost three weeks, she was kept hidden in his home and given temazepam and travel sickness tablets to subdue her. While Shannon suffered, her captors came up with a plan to release her in Dewsbury Market, and for Donovan to find her and claim the reward money. Shannon was finally discovered when neighbors told police that they had heard a child's footsteps coming from Donovan's flat.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Biography, True Story, Ebooks

278 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

sorry but this book is very badly written all based on the authors heresay and things that anyone could have gotten from the press at the time of the crime.

I felt most points the author tried to make had nothing to do with the crime and the author also assumed alot of what she felt people were feeling and thinking at the time

On 19 February, Shannon was no doubt particularly quiet after a huge row in the house the previous night. As she wandered silently downstairs, holding on to the slightly sticky handrail and stepping over odd clothes and discarded trainers on the brown stair carpet, she must have wondered what was in store for her that morning.

For example the above extract from the book...how do you know she was quiet and what she felt?

The book also repeated itself over and over, theres only so many ways and so many times I can read about how dirty the house supposedly was. I wanted to read about the crime, about how it came about how it went down how the police solved it and what happened to them all since...this book didnt really give that

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The face of the woman on the cover I knew I had seen before (hello,who can forget such a face?)
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but when reading this story, it did not ring a bell. Guess I just looked at some headlines of newspapers back then.

So because I did not know anything, I did not appreciate the writer spoilering from the beginning, what would happen. Yes It is true crime but that does not mean we all know what has happened. I prefer my true crime books in order from how things happened. youth, marriage, what made this person so and so, then the crime.

Okay rant over. Even though that was a bit of a let down, I did find it an interesting read. I still do not understand this woman's reasoning, but I guess I am not the only one? Although I do think that if you are British there maybe not many new information for the reader that wasn't in the newspapers.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

In February 2008, a nine year old girl was reported missing from her home in England. Her mother, Karen, appeared on TV more than once begging for Shannon's safe return while the local community rallied around, organising searches and working round the clock to find Shannon.

24 days later, Shannon was found - she had been hiding in the base of a bed at a house occupied by Michael Donovan, a local man. The surprising thing? Michael was related to Craig Meehan, the partner of Shannon's mother Karen. Michael swore that Karen had asked him to take Shannon - but is this true? And if so, who would stoop so low as to fake the kidnapping of their own child?

This is an interesting story, but sad too. The book reads more like a Daily Mail article than an unbiased account, it's littered with random assumptions - e.g. sentences like "Shannon would have felt..." or "Shannon would have been glad of...", "Shannon must have wondered..." or even "A sense of desertion can only have added to her sadness." It's all speculation. This sentence in particular bothered me:

"Even in the first few weeks after birth, when most mothers can barely stop themselves from breathing in that smell of newness, from touching that silkiest skin and counting the tiny toes and fingers, Karen had little interest in her child."

I just find that kind of stuff really unnecessary - I'm not Karen Matthews' biggest fan either, but that kind of sweeping statement is insulting to women who don't feel an instant connection with their babies for whatever reason. Also this:

"She was a nice looking girl - again neither stunning nor unattractive but somewhere in the middle."

That sentence wasn't about Karen - it was about nine year old Shannon.

What Karen did was wrong - for whatever reason, nothing can excuse what she put her daughter through. I also think she's a woman who slipped through the net herself, having had a less than perfect upbringing and then falling into a cycle of meeting a man, getting pregnant, meeting a man, getting pregnant, and so on - she ended up with 7 children by 6 different men. She claimed that she had been abused, that her relationships had been abusive - I feel bad that someone can go that far without being helped. If the sensationalist "eyewitness" accounts of the state of Karen's house can be believed, it beggars belief that the children were not removed from her custody before this happened with Shannon.

I'd also recommend a watch of the recent BBC drama "The Moorside", which tells the same story but doesn't focus on Shannon or any speculation on how she feels in her home life. It's available to watch on YouTube (info correct as of 24/02/17).

[Lindatugby81 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg , I wasn’t sure whether to read or not …
But I did … I can’t believe how her mum could have done this to her own daughter, it’s disgusting..
she’s not fit to be called a mother..

[Alison Hurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evil, heartless bitch is all I can say

[Andrea Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to read this after watching the tv drama and found the book to be even more revealing...however, it's very repetitive and the book is littered with mistakes...could've done with a different proof reader!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say, I do judge myself slightly for reading this book, so please feel free to do the same. I know that Karen Matthews certainly does not deserve anymore attention than she has already received. However, I remember watching this story unfold in the news when Shannon disappeared and I was totally intrigued by it, particularly when it became apparent that her own mother was involved.

One problem I had with the book was the motives that were stated. Rose Martin states as fact that Karen was looking to pocket the reward, having seen how much Madeline McCann's disappearance could earn the person who found her. It wasn't until Karen admitted her involvement that the other motive, of her wanting to leave Craig, came to light. Of course, it's difficult to imagine her caring enough about Shannon to want her out of the way as the pair split up, and it was a theory that was put to her as an explanation, rather than Karen herself coming up with it, but still each motive deserves its own airtime, if that's the story that Karen is sticking to.

The other problem I had with the book was the "other life" painted by Martin, that Shannon could have had, had she lived with her Dad or her grandparents. The couple of times she is referred to as having spent the day with her Dad and brother, are described as sickly sweet family outings, and the times with her grandparents were said to be ones of happiness, before Shannon had to return to the "nightmare" of her everyday life. Now, I'm sure she did have a great time, and that things were desperately bad for her at home, but I can't help but think these episodes of Shannon's childhood might have been embellished slightly, to provide a greater comparison to her lonely, unhappy days with her mother.

One thing I do praise this book for, is bringing to light, the plight of children living in these conditions every single day across the country. As Martin concludes, Shannon's neglected upbringing was not unique, and it is important that children with neglectful parents are not left behind, ready to begin the cycle again with their own sons and daughters.

I hope, wherever Shannon is now, possibly aged around 17, that she is happy and doing well. I hope she still sees her father and grandparents, and that she has moved on from her difficult past. If she goes on to have children, may she provide them with the things she was deprived of as a child - a carefree, happy, well-loved childhood.

[Sid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shannon Matthews’ disappearance is a genuinely interesting story of how a parent can completely fail in their responsibilities in caring for their child. Sadly this book completely failed in many ways to recount this story.

I read this book to learn more about the crimes committed by Karen Matthews, amongst others. However, the author instead approached this book with an unprofessional and very gossipy approach. A lot of the content is hearsay or the authors own fabrication. Moreover the content is also highly repetitive. It felt more like an account from someone in the pub who has no real grasp of the life of people in this estate or the true detail of the case.

Would recommend avoiding this book unless you want gossipy characterisations of the people involved.

[Charlotte Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was always fascinated by the Shannon Matthews case not least because my dad was a local resident at the time and was deeply involved in the community aspect and subsequently affected by the outcome.

This story did give new facts and perspectives to the case but the reason for the low score is because of the shocking classism, misogyny and huge presumption/lack of cited sources.

Firstly, I have no doubt Karen Matthews was a hugely neglectful mother. As far as mothering went, she was terrible at it - hence her having all her children adopted out. I’ll make that clear. However, the sneery classist judgement from the author was extremely tedious, and touched way too much on irrelevant things in the categories of “Not brilliant parenting”. Such as “She would feed the children chicken nuggets and other frozen food”. “She watched a lot of TV”. Big whoop! The classist comments about irrelevant things such as the style of Karen Matthew’s sofa, her hairstyle, her clothes, etc just made the author come across as nasty and like “She neglected Shannon because she didn’t have a Barker and Stonehouse sofa” rather than focussing on how she DID neglect Shannon, and what drove this neglect. The lazy painting of the mother as evil was so surface level in a book I’d hoped would delve into the psychological aspect of Karen Matthew. So disappointing. Furthermore, she talks about Karen’s sofa and the carpet stains to detail how Karen was neglectful - even just bluntly saying things like “Karen watched TV all day because she cared more about TV than her kids” but never once pulls up Shannon’s dad for his part in his neglect. According to this book, when Shannon went missing he hadn’t seen her for a year. Also according to this book Karen constantly behaved like a shrieking drunk banshee 24/7 and Shannon’s dad knew this - yet the author never deliberates why, if Leon Rose knew his daughter was living with a neglectful abuser, he ignored her entirely and carried on living his life with Family Number 2.
Also, the McCanns are mentioned. 2 people whose daughter wouldn’t have gone missing had they not left their 3 tiny children alone to go out and drink wine. But seemingly get away with it because they’re posh. The author seems FAR less offended that the poshos put their need to have a childless meal ahead of their children’s safety than she is that Karen Matthews was chubby and wore a football shirt sometimes . The prejudice didn’t just make me uncomfortable but it affected the integrity of the book. The fact the conclusion that this AWFUL case against an innocent child “did some good” by showing how many single mums there are in the U.K. (there is a strong assumption here all single mums are just like Karen Matthews) and helping the neglected children of single mums. The author even attacks the working class children on the Moorside estate. Gross.

The second point is the author writes things as fact and doesn’t state her sources at all. For example there must be 8 mentions of “The house was filthy with takeaways piled up and stinking in the kitchen to the point people would gag going into the house” type comments. She never mentions who said this, or in what context. She interviewed, or took interviews from, many many people who entered the Matthews’ home. And never once says “according to X”. I’ve seen the documentary of when Shannon was missing and a crew filmed in the Matthews’ home. Looking at the footage the house is not 100% spotless but the author completely exaggerates - seemingly to feed into her narrative that Karen Matthews is a soulless lazy scrounging witch whose everyday itinerary is to smoke, drink, claim benefits, scream all the time and make everyone around her miserable. Again, there’s no delving into the complexities of a woman who was raised in a too-large family in poverty and how that affected her parenting, or scrutinising why she did what she did, or addressing the claims of abuse, or what motivated her to cover up her daughter’s abduction. The author would have you believe it’s simply because she’s a nasty evil child-eater type cowbag and nothing more. Her classism is thinly veiled with her assumptions. In one chapter she describes how local Moorside residents went to see the trial in Leeds and then mentioned how they all went to catch the bus to go home. It’s just the sign of a massive moron with low intelligence to assume ALL residents who went to the court catch a bus just because they’re working class.

I think the author thinks she is appealing to the type of people who would enjoy Jeremy Kyle et al with her melodrama and contextless demonisation and the black and white narrative of “This woman is evil” - it makes for very poor reading. I’m more into books that look at true crime from a holistic view and veer away from the trope of “she was just plain evil nothing more to it”. This is an informative read but it is certainly not an intellectual read. The author thinks she’s clever but she’s rude, a snob and perhaps wants to not look down so much on the intelligence of others given how many spelling and factual errors there are in this book. The author sneers at the people of Dewsbury for their apparent low intelligence yet at one point muddles up Craig Meehan’s mum and sister.

I googled the author by the way - she’s also written a book about astrology for people who believe in it. And then has the nerve to speak down about the intelligence of perfect strangers! Rose Martin isn’t fit to shine the shoes of the people of Moorside with her innate and juvenile snobbery. This could have been such a good book if she didn’t go there, but she did and it made for frustrating reading

[Pip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many have forgot Shannon Matthews' story today, and it was on a recommendation of a friend that I read this. It was pretty educational in that I learned a lot about the case that I didn't know or had forgotten over the years, and I admit that I enjoyed the fact it fiercely pointed out the inequality of Britains classes. However, it was very repetitive and jumped around a little. A good read if you're interested in the case, although don't be fooled by the title - this isn't really Shannon's story, but that of the family that let her down.

[Yorky Caz · Rating 3 out of 5]

not to belittle what was a horrific situation and a terrible ordeal for shannon but this book is awful! saying that i read it cover to cover but its terribly written and the descriptions of karen matthews and craig show the disgust of the author from the start. all that said it was interesting and good to see that for all the bad things to say about the people of dewsbury there was also a brilliant sense of community.

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is nothing but a glorified daily mail article. If you read that paper and believe every word - then you'll enjoy this. If you have better things to do with your time and prefer to have reliable unsensationalised information I recommend you avoid this at all costs

[danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not great

If you want a book full of hyperbole and assumptions regarding people's thoughts and feelings, as well as an almost sycophantic view of Kate McCann, this is for you. If you want just facts, don't bother!

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon: Betrayed From Birth is a difficult read, one can scarcely believe how selfish and uncaring Karen Matthews, the mother of Shannon, truly is. It is utterly heartbreaking. This is an unwavering tale of neglect and abuse, by a woman who gave birth to seven children but who didn’t even seem to want one. Three of the children were even sent off to live with their respective fathers and that seemed to have been the better option for them.
The evil Karen Matthews does not deserve a spotlight, but the reality of her crimes need to be talked about. So people can spot the warning signs with other children.
If you were keeping up with the news in the UK during 2008, you will remember this story being everywhere and then the reveal that Shannon’s mother and step-father were behind her disappearance.

Okay, this book could have been written better overall. It is a tad repetitive and there are some errors. That’s why it is only 3 stars to me!

”It was a story which shocked Britain to the core - how could any woman allow her own child to be kidnapped and then make repeated television and newspaper appeals for her release, while knowing where she was the entire time?”

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was easy to read but there are many instances where it references the McCanns and how comparably they were caring, doting parents and how their child “really was” abducted. Despite the fact that there is zero evidence of an abduction and evidence of foul play, the majority of the British public do not feel the same sentiment as the author and know there’s something odd about that case. The bias is dropped in throughout the book. An example of that is:

“on closer inspection there were few parallels between the families and circumstances of Madeleine McCann on holiday with her ‘doting’ family in Portugal and Shannon Matthews, uncared for and neglected in Dewsbury.”

The McCanns were “doting” parents. It mentions how Karen Mathews neglected her child unlike the McCanns. It makes the content and author hard to believe which lowers the credibility of the book. Had it not been for the McCann love, it would have reached 3 stars

[Denise Hawken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow not an easy topic

I clearly remember this event that’s every parents nightmare happening.
I found the book to be well written, informative and it doesn’t appear to be judgemental.
I am pleased to have found out more about what really happened, but as we can see no one will ever really know.
I prey that Shannon has managed to put her early childhood behind her and hope that what she remembers feels more like a dream and that now she lives a happy and more normal life, feeling loved and valued.
I must admit that I felt sorry for her only best friend and hope that she still is able to have contact with Shannon, or at least has been able to adapt and also has a happy life.

[sophia crawshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

victim of the breakdown in society

Being born in Dewsbury and being familiar with the demographic of the 'Moor' I feel the residents have been given an unfair bashing. Many people in that area are hard working and victims of a cycle of un-aspirational families. It's a vicious circle.
The book was detailed but raises more questions than answers. I really hope Shannon releases a book in the future to answer a lot of the smoke and mirrors questions. Took two hours to read a untaxing read.

[Jan Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loaned this book from the library. While the story of Shannon Matthews is nothing short of horrendous I was not a fan of this book! It is poorly written, with lots of hearsay, and ‘opinions’ such as the opinions people had on Shannon’s mum having multiple kids with different fathers, and benefits etc. Most of the book is what would have been on the paper at the time and statements made, with repetition constantly through the book. Overall a poorly written book, badly portraying the story of Shannon Matthews faked disappearance.

[nicola evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing

A truly harrowing account of how this sad sorry excuse for a parent was allowed to get away for so many years with the neglect of all her children not just Shannon. At least it makes you realise how much more you appreciate your family and how much more you want for them in life.

[judith braun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written!

I came across this 2 episode series on Britbox. The series was good, but I wanted to learn more. The story is extremely sad, but reflects the living situations of many families in present days. I am surprised the mother and boyfriend did not get more prison time, and I pray Shannon and her siblings are growing up well without this mother!

[Tracy Lightfoot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking

Very sad that this little girl was treated like an animal, her mother should have got life in prison for ruining her life as I’m sure she’s never going to forget it. They all deserves everything they get.

[Lucy Gardiner (luc_lostinbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This book really shocked me to my core, I’ve never really properly looked into what happened with this case and felt this was fantastically researched. Could not put it down.

[Samantha Pilling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

I've always wanted to know the real truth of what happened and this book explains everything brilliantly. Truly a great 👍book to read it took me a couple of days I just couldn't put it down

[Tina Cottee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read

I became very engrossed in the book from the start and found it to be both informative and interesting however there were times when the story seemed to stall and become quite repetitive. Overall it was worth the read

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real view of all angles to the terrible events of this story

I enjoyed this book as it gave a wide view of all the different opinions people had, explaining all the unanswered questions of the kidnapping of Shannon Matthews.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bit basic

Poor quality writing, many typing errors. Basically this is a News of the World version of a story requiring a much better writer and editor.

[Averil · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's written like an extremely long news article. There isn't much structure and goes back and fourth. I'd give it 1 star of I'd had to have paid.

[lynne peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon Matthews

I very good account of the mother that betrayed her own daughter and pretended she had been kidnapped
sad heartbreaking story of a mothers crime

[Joselyn Dinsdale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Excellent dislike her playing victim and the way she blames everyone else recommend to everyone truth finally out they guilty

[Tracy Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

A true story written in a way that held my attention. Informative and factual without being boring. Really enjoyable book to read.