Beaten, But Unbowed: Waking From The Nightmare Of Abuse, By Karen Braysher

A courageous, highly listenable, and encouraging audiobook, that will give lots of hope to the many survivors of complex abuse. Lucy Huntington, Facilitator - Heal For Life Foundation UK

It took 35 years for Karen to be diagnosed with severe, visual dyslexia, and 44 years to get a bipolar diagnosis. Karen was conceived as a replacement baby for her slightly older sister Lorraine, a thalidomide baby without arms or legs. This is a true account of Karen's journey through the toughest times of her life, triumphant in the end. And an unbreakable bond with her sister.

What happens when a child is emotionally and physically abused over many years, repeatedly beaten and kicked in the head and chest on the kitchen floor by her father, while her mother watches on emotionless? What happens when a child is raised with undiagnosed dyslexia and bipolar, in an aggressive, unsafe home, when she is repeatedly failed by adults who are supposed to protect her? Karen Braysher is a survivor, not a victim. Now in her mid-50s, and a successful businesswoman and campaigner, Karen hopes her audiobook will help people with mental illness get a quicker diagnosis, providing a mirror to help people identify and seek help for their own experiences. She hopes her story will talk to those who have been abused as children, to women who are distressed about past abortions, and mentally ill people forbidden from adopting a child. In writing this memoir, Karen invites you to join her on a cathartic and painful personal journey, as she boldly shares her innermost thoughts and experiences. This is a true and inspiring story of incredible strength, sisterly love, warmth, and humor in the face of discrimination, abuse, homophobia, and misunderstanding. Karen was routinely told by her mother that she was born with the cord around her neck, and that it would have been better for everyone if she had died.