Customer Reviews

Destruction of Innocence: A True Story of Child Abduction

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a remarkable true story by a first-time author. I was drawn into the story on the first page and hooked on having to know the outcome. This story reads like a tense thriller, and yet the book is filled with quirky facts and even some occasional comic moments, details that could come only from those who had been there and experienced it.

Incredibly although this child was abducted twice and retrieving her seemed more and more remote, her mother never gave up in getting her back. This book made me realize again that truth is often stranger than fiction. I also gained a fresh understanding of the heartache endured by any parent of a "taken" child.

When I started reading this book I wanted it to be first rate but wasn't confident it would be. By the time I was on the second page I could hardly put it down. By the time I finished the last page I certainly considered it first rate.
It has all the elements required to hold the reader's intense interest. It is the story of a heroic mother's love for her child, and that mother's persistence in her efforts to retrieve that kidnapped child, not once but twice.
I highly recommend this book to all who like adventure and romance.

I have just finished the best book I have read in the past five years! It was written by a Texas friend of mine. It is called 'Destruction of Innocence' by Rosalie White Hollingsworth. It is the compelling, engrossing true story of a courageous young mother's gut-wrenching relentless determination to find her child who was kidnapped by the father...not once but twice! This story lands you in such farfetched locales as Rome to the jungles of Bolivia. This is a bonified page turner. I read it in less than a day. It draws you in and will not let you go. And it's all a true story. There are more twists and turns in this saga than an east Texas county road. It was spell binding! If we're rating with 5 stars, I give it 6! Why this has not become a movie or made for TV show is beyond me. I highly recommend this book.

This story is so good that Lifetime is considering making it into a movie.

In the United States, over fifty percent of our missing children remain lost, but not this one.

This is the story of a one year old girl who is twice abducted by her father and taken out of the country. Her mother's love and determination is the child's only lifeline home. This mother risks her own life to save the life of her child. A riveting read.

This book was very interesting and I am aware of the
author personally, and feel she did a good job explaining
what happened.
I hope she writes a sequel and lets the people
know what happened to the girl later in life.

In the late 1950s Rosalie Hollingsworth met Franco Allatere, a handsome, charming Italian citizen working in Portland, OR, who completely swept her off her feet. His attentions caused her to feel the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world, one who had entered into a fairy tale.

Within a mere few days of their marriage, though, the fairy tale was shattered. Franco's charms were replaced by periods of intense rage toward his bride caused by his misconceptions of small daily situations that arose. Yet gentle, loving reconciliation followed each.

Within weeks of their marriage, Franco, now an American citizen by virtue of their union, took Rosalie to France to meet his mother and, there, their marriage improved. Carmen Allatere loved her only child without reservation and, it soon became apparent, had indulged his every whim throughout his life. After the couple returned to America, Carmen came to live with the newlyweds, keeping their home while both worked. For awhile Rosalie was as submissive to Franco as her mother-in-law.

When Rosalie ached to have a child, Franco was willing. Following several miscarriages and then the death of their prematurely born daughter, Danina, Rosalie remained tenacious (a personal characteristic that would be absolutely necessary in future events that life would bring) in her desire for motherhood and was soon pregnant again. On April 7, 1964, Triana was born, a perfect, beautiful, endearing child.

The family's home situation deteriorated rapidly once again as Franco insisted Rosalie return quickly to work; his mother assumed complete care of Triana; and, evidence of Franco's infidelities surfaced along with other very serious problems. Six months after Triana's birth, Rosalie left Franco and moved into her own apartment with her daughter. Then, just a few months later on one of his visitation days, Franco kidnapped Triana and disappeared along with his mother.

The subsequent story of Rosalie's daring, successful plan to locate and recapture Triana is compelling. Yet that is not the end of the story. Several years later, Franco returned to America with his mother, ostensibly to seek reconciliation with his wife and daughter. Though Rosalie was firm about not resuming their relationship, in time she began to permit brief visits because Triana wanted to spend time with her father.

Throughout the book the author shows us slices of her own childhood that explain how she was deceived by Franco's charms and resumed areas of trust that proved, in the end, unwise choices. It was simply a matter of time before Franco again kidnapped his daughter and this time fled with her, his new wife and her two daughters, to South America. There the family endured living in exceedingly primitive conditions, moving frequently to avoid being discovered by officials. Four miserable years passed for Franco's family, well reconstructed by the author, who continued with a second, much more difficult search that eventually brought Triana home.

Hollingsworth has written a gripping story that engaged me throughout. In her epilogue, she says:

"Why did I write this book? Why all this effort? It was, in large part, cathartic therapy. But the primary reason was I wanted to tell our story because I believed that somehow it may give courage to others, not only in their pursuit of locating their children, but to have the courage to share their stories with others."

Hollingsworth is, above all else, a deeply courageous woman.

by Mary Jo Doig
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Rosalie Hollingsworth, a strong, courageous, and determined woman who lets nothing get in the way once she's made up her mind to do something. The something in this case is the inconceivable journeys to regain her daughter twice after Triana was kidnapped by her father. This is Rosalie's story as much as it is the story of Triana, who as a young child couldn't understand what, was happening.

Hollingsworth takes you along on the journey to recover Triana in hope that others in the same situation will see that with determination and strength, the impossible may not be impossible after all.

In the United States alone, a child is kidnapped every 40 seconds. This means that about a million children each year are removed from their homes, and have their lives thrown into turmoil. The majority of these (approaching 80 percent) are children kidnapped by one parent seeking to take the child from the other, custodial parent. Sadly about half of these cases are never solved. In the "Destruction of Innocence," a desperate mother could not rest until her daughter was rightfully returned home.

This true story (written by the abducted child's mother), however, is even more unsettling than the norm. In the case of Triana, the daughter of author Rosalie Hollingsworth and her estranged husband Franco, the child was abducted by Franco not once, but twice.

Like many foreign-born parents, Triana's father was Italian, and when Franco first kidnapped his child, they left the United States to resettle in Italy. This was only the beginning of the story, however. Within a relatively short time frame, the child was re-taken by Rosalie and returned to California. Eventually the father returned from Europe as well, and began building a new life in California with another woman, who had two daughters of her own.

The second kidnapping, whose story forms the majority of the book, chronicles the second abduction and four-year pursuit of Triana by her mother Rosalie, after her father Franco and his new family disappear again with the kidnapped child. This second, longer search tells the story not only from the mother's point of view, but lays out the heart wrenching facts of a life on the run and its consequences on the innocence of the child caught in the middle.

Beloved by both parents, Triana was nonetheless subject to circumstances and situations that no child should face, including dangers to her own life. Even amidst the final return, her safety seems elusive. Particularly compelling is the "happy ending." No child who has witnessed and experienced such trauma could ever simply "turn the switch" and return to a happy life she barely remembered or a mother who had been so tragically portrayed by a vengeful ex-husband. Even so many years later, the scars and confusion linger.

Still, the story is a compelling one. Never did the mother lose hope, give up, or let another person (even her own child) deter her from finding her daughter. This is a story of amazing courage and bravery in the face of so much difficulty and disappointment. Parents everywhere will thank their lucky stars never to have to face such trauma. Those who do are probably the few that can truly understand the depths of despair and the elation of hope that mark Rosalie's life story.

Writing memoirs is the thing to do these days- whether or not others would want to read about your life...enter Rosalie Hollingsworth's true and captivating story, "Destruction of Innocence," of her experience with child abduction by her mentally unstable husband, Franco. From California to Rome and the jungles of South America follow this startling chain of events with a father who kidnaps his daughter not once, but twice. Abduction by parents is more common than most people think and, as Rosalie learned, often law enforcement can offer little assistance and children can disappear for years or be gone for good!

Hollingsworth writes from the heart, revealing her desperation, depression and determination to reunite with her daughter, Triana. Their story will serve as encouragement for mothers and fathers who feel helpless in a similar situation as well as a cautionary tale for those in troubled relationships.

At once, the reader will be amazed by Hollingsworth's courage and stupefied by her gullibility. You will baulk at Franco's cunning actions that charmed everyone he met. Somehow Rosalie and Triana survived these horrors to turn around and lead remarkable lives. Kudos to them! Upon finishing this memoir, I hope you will give your children an extra hug and kiss as you tuck them safely in bed.

What an amazing story this is. The author, Rosalie Hollingsworth, tells of her own true life personal experiences in her efforts to rescue her child from not one, but two, kidnappings by her ex-husband, which took her to many different countries in Europe and South America. If you didn't know this was a true story, you could easiy think that this was an exciting piece of fiction. But it is all true. You can only have the greatest admiration for Ms. Hollingsworth for her incredible strength and determination, as she relates all of the obstacles she encountered and how she overcame each one, in her search against all odds to find and recover her daughter.

This is a very readable book with a very compelling story, told with great feeling and emotion by a mother who refused to give up and finally prevailed in her search for her daughter. I can highly recommend this book.