Customer Reviews

Broken Child

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I discovered The Broken Child when I was in the 11th grade, and I started it and was shocked that this woman went through these trials with her mother. It is a autobiography about a woman who's mother was racist against her own daughter; she hated her from child birth. She would not even look at her own daughter because her mom was anti-semantic. She said this when she first saw her "That is not my child, that is a Jewish child!" Her mother abused her beyond anything I have ever heard of; she pumped a broom stick into her vagaina while screaming "Now I am going to teach how to use your Jewish c*nt!" She was locked in a closet while her father worked, and her mother abused her whenever she got the chance, but when her father was at home, she treated her like she was a princess.
While in the closet, she developed split-personalities and became these personalities when she was put in there, and she saw them as her friends. Eventually she told the truth to her father, and her father divorced her and got joint custody of her and her brothers who were not abused as her. Then her father died in a plane accident and she had to go live back with her mother. As she got older, her mother eventually died, but she left her with emotional scars and physical scars. One of her personalities named Lucy was a s*ut; she would go out every night (her personalities), and would have sex with men she just met, then she would wake up wondering where she was and discovered semen between her legs, and would cry her eyes out.
Eventually she got married, but when she was touched a certain way; she would freeze up like a statue because it remined her of the past. She had kids, but she still had the mental scars with her. She then got some help, but she discovered new memories that she never thought she had, and this made her more depressed and almost on the verge of suicide. As she got older, she then realized that she had to get over this, so she got more help and eventually got rid of the personalities and discovered her surroundings; her kids, her husband, and she found a new lease on life, and she discovered how to live life without the scars still on her mind.

I am sorry if I offended anybody, but what I said in this book is explained in this novel. This novel has changed my life forever, and it should be read with a open mind, and also it makes you think that this woman went through this, but yet she was able to come up in the world and to have a family of her own. It can be very inspirational but yet VERY sad.

I have read this book, and I must say that not only did I cry, but I also gained a totally new appreciation for the blessings that I have had. Marcia Cameron is not only extremely lucky to have survived her undeserving chidhood, she is a wonderful and beautiful person inside. After finishing her book, I mailed her a handwritten letter to commend her for her strength and courage. To my surprise, SHE took the time to write ME a handwritten thank you note for my comments. God Bless You, Marcia Cameron. -- You are one hell of a lady!

While reading this memoir, you find yourself wishing it were fictional. That there are humans out there capable of this kind of torture on their own children is unbearable. Having read many different accounts, true and fictional, of child abuse, I have to say this is the worst I've ever heard of. The author is lucky to have even survived it.

Yet her survival is a hard and long struggle, even years after the abuse itself has ended. Reading of the terrors she endured, then the aftermath of living with it, surpressing the truth, trying to function normally, failing miserably at that, searching for a psychiatrist that will help her...failing at that, it just gets worse and worse.

This is not a story that will make you feel good. You will be upset, angry, sad and hurt. But you do find hope in the end. Hope that the narrator can somehow get through the past and into the future, that if you can survive something like this, then you can certainly survive almost everything. Not an easy read.

There are many stories recounting abuse by males, but not nearly as many people have come out and shared their stories about abusive mothers. Marcia Cameron shares her struggles and triumphs with courage and grace. She also talks about her difficulty in finding a therapist who was willing and, more importatly, able to help her discover the root of her adult problems. There are many, many therpists and psychiatrists who disclaim DID or completely miss the diagnosis, because it is masked with many other symptoms. Marcia Cameron brings us through her trials in therapy as well. I highly recommend this book for all professionals and DID's who are ready to read some very triggering material.

Marcia Cameron, a San Francisco native describes life with her psychotic, dangerously cruel mother. Marcia's mother beats her, starves her and on one memorable occasion, knocks the 9-year-old's front teeth out with a hammer. She threatens to give Marcia away to "the gypsies;" she enlists the aid of her sons to further demean their sister.

Marcia masters the art of disassociating; she fragments herself into several distinct personalities to cope with her mother's special brand of torture. These personalities are different ages and some are even male. One personality, called Camille is blind. They each have specific roles to play and specific duties to fulfill.

Like many persons suffering from DID/MPD, Marcia is artistically gifted. She makes an impressive showing despite her "loss of time" in school and even functions as a wife and mother.

As her behavior becomes more erratic and time more elusive and questionable, Marcia finally seeks help. It is through her hard work and her therapist's dedication that she finally conquers the demons of her childhood. She is somewhat infantile during therapy; she envisions herself approximately half the doctor's height and turns him into a father figure. She becomes quite dependent upon her doctor and it is to his credit that he keeps the sessions on a professional level. One can speculate that Marcia is going through a symbolic "rebirth," or "renaissance" in treatment because her own real life was so horrendous.

This is a book about hope, loving and healing. It is a Pandora's box that reveals HOPE tucked away at its very bottom.

I highly recommend it.

I found the story itself to be quite heartbreaking though interesting; yet many a time I had to put the book down breifly when I read about all the trauma and torture that Cameron went through. It is an excellent book; yet I would not reccomend it to the weak-hearted.

This book is an extremely vivid account of a child living under impossible circumstances. Some of the abuses she had to endure were so horrible I had to look away from the words and take a breath before I could continue. How the human soul can survive abuses this extreme is a question I would ponder as I read this and other books of child abuse. What must it be like to be a child of two or three and receive little to no nurturing and still fight to survive? This is a rivoting book. I

I read this book and could hardly put it down. It has been a great inspiration for me. I think it is a true proof of how powerful and helpful psychotherapy can be. It sheds light on the psychological trauma endured due to child abuse. It is a book that touches you deep in the heart. I thank the author for sharing with us her experience that is and always will be of hope to so many people.

As someone with DID, I usually snap up any books I find about this topic. I never regretted it as much as when I picked up this one.

I read with compassion the story of her abuse, and indeed her survival is bound to be inspiring. However, over the course of her telling about her therapy, I became more and more frustrated. She had a series of very bad therapists who told her to simply 'triumph over' her multiple personalities. She has no appreciation at all for all that developing her personalities has done for her. She speaks of integrating, but as far as I can see, some personalities merely died, and others simply went into deep hiding because Cameron and her therapist made it clear that they were unwelcome.

I weep for her story, not only because of her childhood, but because of the mistreatment she received at the hands of the professionals she went to for help.

If this story did affect me, it was to make me more determined to treat my selves with compassion, and speak out so other multiples do not have to go through the horrible process of denying and supressing themselves.

In reading Broken Child I was horrified by the abuse, saddened at the suffering of Marcia, and deeply moved that in a world where drugs are shoved at people to solve all problems, that there was a psychiatrist who gave himself selflessly and extensively to help heal a sick woman. I liked that the author saw her multiple personalities as being a further form of the life of abuse she endured. The alter egos weren't cute or charming in any way; it was mental illness and she understood it as such. Too many books on multiple personalites seem to want to make it okay to live in a fractured state. Ira Steinman, the psychiatrist, was determined to have Marcia become whole and functional.

The book is raw, and difficult to read at moments, but incredibly compelling and deeply honest. The abuse on the part of the mother, and the abandonment of all responsible adults in Marcia's life, made me weep in spots. But the book has a purpose--the long, hard road to integration. It would be a valuable tool for therapists to read. This book acurately calls multiple personality a mental illness. The interaction between patient and therapist is well portrayed. I hope her life continues toward health.