There Were Times I Thought I Was Crazy: A Black Woman's Story Of Incest

Plot

To twelve-year-old Vanessa Alleyne, it seemed at first as though her dreams were coming true. Her mother June, who had been absent for most of Vanessa's life, returned to Trinidad, was reunited with her son and daughter, and brought them back with her to North America. But young Vanessa's dream soon turned into a nightmare, as her stepfather Ralph began making sexual advances towards her. Vanessa's account of how she survived the events that followed -- the beatings and rapes that Ralph inflicted on her, her pregnancy at the age of fourteen, the premature birth and subsequent death of her son, her harsh and lonely life in a series of foster homes and Children's Aid shelters, and finally her attempts to bring Ralph to justice -- is at times brutal and horrifying. Vanessa pulls no punches in telling her story, and the racism, sexism and apathy of the adults who were responsible for her well-being -- doctors, nurses, foster parents -- will come as an unpleasant but necessary revelation to many readers. But There Were Times I Thought I Was Crazy is compelling, ultimately uplifting reading. You are certain to be profoundly moved by the history of this tenacious and brave young woman.