Audiobooks by Ann Cusack

"Aged 12, Sam Walker Roberts was groomed online by a teacher who later sexually assaulted and raped her. Weeks later, she fell into the clutches of a paedophile ring and was raped repeatedly by a gang, only one of whom faced justice. Devastated at the failures in the judicial system, Sam launched: ‘You have not defeated me’, a campaign which demanded more support and understanding for grooming victims. In 2012, Sam worked with Keith Vaz on a government inquiry into localised grooming. In 2014, she returned to the street where she was gang-raped and interviewed local residents, gathering evidence that other children had been exploited at the same address. Working with MP’s, she set up fake profiles online, showing how easily children are targeted. She snared two paedophiles who were later jailed. In 2019, Sam wrote an open letter: ‘Message to a Monster’ and launched an e petition calling for the notion of ostensible consent to be abolished in child sex cases. Three years later, Sam headed a panel of 11 victims at the Oldham CSE inquiry. Her complaints against police and council were upheld and she received apologies. She has since been pushing Oldham council to hold a broad review which she hopes will lead to the introduction of new safety measures for all children. She recently learned she has been successful, and the inquiry will now go ahead. Sam has battled back from unimaginable tragedy, including the death of her husband, to fight for change. She has found peace converting to Islam and is determined to remove race labels from the grooming debate. Sam says: “I can’t change what’s happened to me. But I can speak out to try and make sure all children are aware of grooming and how to stop it. We have to educate and protect our children, so that child sex exploitation becomes a thing of the past.”"

Ann Cusack, Sam Walker-Roberts (Author), TBD (Narrator)

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My Girl: For The Little Girl I Was Never Able To Be

"Co-written by Ann Cusack, the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Asylum, The Convent, Silent Sisters and Abandoned A woman who was sexually abused by her own father and later gave birth to his daughter is now running a support group which spans 30 countries and has tens of thousands of supporters. Stace Don, now 36, was taken into foster care as a baby after being neglected by her parents. For seven years, she lived an idyllic life, believing her foster parents were her real parents. But a chance encounter with her natural father, Nigel Taylor, shattered her happiness and she was later moved from her foster home, away from the family she loved. Upset and angry that she had been lied to, and confused about her own identity, Stace spent the remainder of her childhood flipping between different homes. Aged 17, she visited Nigel Taylor and he refused to let her leave. Over six months, he sexually, physically, and mentally abused her, forcing her to behave in a 'wifely' role; cooking, cleaning, washing. He paraded her as his partner in pubs and in shops, and even took her house-hunting, claiming they would live as a couple. She was also expected to have sex with him and endure sickening levels of intimacy. Stace fell pregnant aged 18 and, despite her loathing for her father, was determined to keep her baby. Nigel Taylor was jailed for seven years in April 2011 at Basildon Crown Court after admitting sexual activity with a child family member. Stace now runs a blog and support group for other survivors of sexual abuse. Her daughter, aged 16, is fully supportive of her mother's work."

Ann Cusack, Stace Don (Author), Melanie Crawley (Narrator)

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This Isn't Love

"After a life in care, with both good and bad experiences of the system, Hope knows all too well what the risks are for children in care as they approach adolescence. Lacking any sense of self-worth or belonging, children in care are often dismissed by the authorities as impossible to manage and, worse, perceived as children who have invited sexual abuse by placing themselves in 'dangerous' situations. They quickly become invisible to the authorities - too old to be perceived as 'children' by the system and yet, far too young to be safe in an adult world. Hope was brought up in care from the age of nine. Until now, she has never spoken about what happened to her once she left the security of her Highgate children's home at the age of 13 and moved into a 'secure unit'. It may have been secure but it was never 'safe'. In this new book, she lifts the lid on this untold chapter of her story and the devastating effects she experienced when she reconnected with her past. This isn't Love is a book that not only casts blame on the men and women who abuse children in care, but also on those who avert their gazes in the belief that these children are 'asking for it'. Hope's story ends on a hopeful note, championing victims of abuse and encouraging others to tell their story."

Ann Cusack, Hope Daniels (Author), Fran Burgoyne (Narrator)

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Trish Hinde: Not My Fault: Not My Fault

"'What mattered was that someone listened to me. Someone believed me, after 25 years. That means everything.' A mum of three who was abused and raped as a child by her own father has revealed her ordeal drove her into the clutches of middle-aged paedophiles. Trish Hinde, 35, was sexually abused by her father, Gerard King, from the age of six. Alone and scared, she internalised her trauma and began suffering from violent seizures. Her father took responsibility for her epilepsy care, even abusing her on hospital visits. Trish and her five siblings were neglected, often relying on neighbours for food and watching helplessly as bailiffs carried away their possessions. In her early teens, Trish was recklessly promiscuous and became a victim of child sexual exploitation, often finding herself in danger. She reported her childhood abuse many times, in letters to family members and social workers, in an essay she wrote at school, to a therapist and to NSPCC. But, despite her father being jailed for abusing another child, her complaint never went any further. Trish became suicidal and despairing. Her relationships seemed doomed because she had damaging flashbacks and seizures whenever she became intimate. But in 2015, she met her husband, Craig, and found true happiness. They had three children, Jacob, now six, Oscar, five and Jessica, three. But Trish was overly protective of her children and did not like her husband looking after their daughter. Realising her past history was damaging her marriage, she decided to go to the police. This time, at last, they listened. In April 2022, Gerard King, 59, was convicted of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child at Chester Crown Court. Trish maintains the court case and conviction were not important to her."

Ann Cusack, Trish Hinde (Author), Laura Brydon (Narrator)

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The Letter

"Co-written by the writer of Sunday Times bestsellers The Asylum, The Convent, Silent Sisters and Abandoned Harrowing emotional story of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of a father Sarah Sidebottom was repeatedly raped by both her father and her brother as a child has secured justice thanks to a forgotten letter. Sarah Sidebottom, 54, was raped and sexually abused by her father, Arthur William Bowditch, and her brother, Arthur Stephen Bowditch. They were jailed in 2022 for a total of 32 years. The first attack, when she was just three and a half years old, left Sarah needing surgery to repair internal damage. A decades-old letter from her doctor proved crucial in securing a conviction for the abuse, which began almost 50 years go."

Ann Cusack, Sarah Sidebottom (Author), Charlotte Worthing (Narrator)

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Groomed by a Gang

"Christina O’Connor is the main prosecution witness from the Huddersfield Grooming scandal. In 2017, 11 men were convicted of a staggering 43 offences against her, including 22 counts of rape. In this memoir, Christina will describe how, from being a happy child with a loving family, she fell into the clutches of a grooming gang whose abuse of children earned them a total of 221 years in prison. Christina’s helpless parents tried desperately to save their 13 year old daughter as she began playing truant, and was lured into sexual activities with complete strangers, in exchange for pizza, vodka and cannabis. After five years of almost daily rape, Christina committed robberies under duress from the grooming gang and was jailed. She made a complaint to police about the abuse, but no action was taken. She sees the prison term as her salvation; from this moment she turned her life around. Two years after her release, her police statement was found at the back of a filing cabinet, and Operation Tendersea, the investigation into the grooming gang was launched. This is the first time Christina has spoken out. She has waived her right to anonymity and wants the world to hear her voice"

Ann Cusack, Christina O'connor (Author), Laura Brydon (Narrator)

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Abandoned

"“It was like going through a door which had been locked all my life. I had walked past it every single day, afraid to even rattle the handle. Now I was smashing the locks, I was wrenching it from the hinges, and I was marching through. Here I am!' A woman whose mother twice tried to kill her as a child has won a ground-breaking battle in the supreme courts for the right to claim compensation. Monica Allan’s legal victory set a precedent and has opened the floodgates for others to claim in her wake. Thanks to her 12-year legal fight, other victims now have hope. Other victims now have a voice. In her memoir, Monica, 54, tells the story of her childhood, when her mother, Betty Mount, forced her head under running bathroom taps and tried to strangle her. She had previously tried to kill Monica as a baby. Monica was taken into foster care, where her new parents ran a brutal regime. To the outside world, the family was devoutly religious and respectable, but behind closed doors, Monica was physically and sexually abused. Failed by a second mother figure, she moved into her own home aged 18 and went on to have four children. Monica loved her children but battled constantly with the demons from her past. She carried her dark secrets around with her for 40 years until in 2010, haunted by her trauma, she finally decided to seek justice. She was told she could not seek compensation because of the ‘same roof’ rule, meaning victims who lived with their attackers up to 1979 were ineligible for pay-outs. For the past 12 years Monica has been fighting her case through the Supreme Courts and was recently awarded compensation from CICA in respect of the sexual abuse she suffered in foster care. She is awaiting a second settlement for the attacks by her mother."

Ann Cusack, Joe Cusack, Monica Allan (Author), Sarah Barron (Narrator)

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A Mother's Job: From Benefits Street to the Houses of Parliament: One Woman’s Fight For Her Tragic D

"“I am just an ordinary mum, yet I would go to the ends of the earth to get justice for my daughter. If I can change the way people are treated, then Jodey will not have died in vain. I now feel that this was her destiny; to change the lives of millions of others.“ While Jodey Whiting was stuck in hospital battling pneumonia over Christmas, a letter dropped on her doormat from the Department of Work and Pensions, asking her to attend an assessment. It was a letter she never saw. Despite suffering from major health problems and needing daily care, the powers-that-be callously halted benefit payments for the mum-of-nine. While waiting for her appeal, and with no money coming in, Jodey killed herself, aged just 42. Another DWP letter pronouncing her ‘fit to work’ was sent to her home three days after her tragic death. A Mother’s Jobis the story of how Jodey’s mum Joy Dove, 67, took on the system – and won justice for her daughter. A former cleaner and shop-worker, she is intimidated by nothing and nobody. Joy reveals how she struggled to raise her family, as a single mother, living on the now notorious: ‘Benefits Street’ estate in Stockton-on-Tees. Of how Jodey, her middle daughter, developed problems including curvature of the spine, a brain cyst, and bipolar and personality disorders and how, as her health deteriorated, Joy became her unofficial carer, visiting several times a day. Jodey left farewell notes following her suicide, warning that her youngest son, Cory, a twin, was particularly vulnerable. Tragically, her premonition was realised when, unable to cope with his grief, he died from a drug overdose, aged 19, in May 2020. Joy felt that the DWP had stolen two members from her family. An inquiry after Jodey’s death found the DWP had failed to follow its own safeguarding practice. It issued an apology and compensation. The case was discussed in Parliament where the Prime Minister labelled it ‘appalling.’ Joy launched ‘Justice For Jodey’ which aims to hold the DWP to account and to prevent other tragedies. She met other grieving families and her campaign saw her take centre stage at the Labour Party conference and argue her case in the High Court."

Ann Cusack, Joe Cusack, Joy Dove (Author), Melanie Crawley (Narrator)

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The Asylum

"For 46 years, Carol Minto has quietly gone about her life, carrying with her the most extraordinary and heartbreaking secrets. Born into poverty and with mostly absent parents, Carol helped to raise her nine siblings. But when she was just 11 years old, her older brother began to sexually abuse her. After four years, Carol managed to escape – and ran away from home. Picked up by social services they place her at Aston Hall in Derby; a psychiatric hospital now infamous for the ghoulish ‘truth serum’ experiments it carried out on children. Over three years, Carol was stripped, sedated, assaulted and raped by Kenneth Milner, the doctor in charge. Eventually she is released back into the community, aged 18, and has a daughter. But the baby is taken away for adoption and Carol’s trauma intensifies. In 2010 Carol finally plucked up the courage to speak out about the abuse she suffered – and received justice, at last. In The Asylum, Carol tells the full story of how she overcame unimaginable suffering, to find the happiness and solace she has today as a mother and grandmother."

Ann Cusack, Carol Minto, Joe Cusack (Author), Fiona Mcneill (Narrator)

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Silent Sisters: A True Story

"For over 20 years, Joanne Lee's mother kept the remains of three newborn babies hidden in her wardrobe. For the first time since exposing her mother's crimes, Joanne breaks her silence over her family's horrific ordeal. Growing up, Joanne suffered at the hands of a violent boyfriend and controlling relatives, as her mother lapsed into a downward spiral following the break-up of her marriage. But the consequences of her mother's lifestyle turned out to be worse than Joanne could ever have imagined. She already knew about the baby buried in a shallow makeshift grave next to the family plot. But when Joanne came across a red plastic bin in her mother's wardrobe in 2009, she realised that the family home held an even more sinister secret. In Silent Sisters, Joanne will tell her story, detailing her struggle to understand her mother, to piece together the truth and give the four babies the proper burial they deserve."

Ann Cusack, Joanne Lee, Joe Cusack (Author), Melanie Crawley (Narrator)

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