ENEMY
a true story of courage, childhood trauma and the cost of war
by Ruth Clare
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 17 May 2023 | Archive Date 14 Jul 2023
Talking about this book? Use #ENEMY #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
How do you stop the trauma of your past from derailing your future?
Ruth Clare learnt from a young age how to be a warrior. She protected her mum, stood up to her dad and defied authority in the face of injustice. But when the same fierceness that helped her survive the violence of her childhood threatened to hurt her relationship with her children, she knew needed to confront the family secrets she had been guarding for so long.
Tender, funny and wise, this unforgettable story shines a light on the heartbreaking impact of military service on veterans and the unrecognized price families can pay when a parent returns home from war.
For fans of Educated by Tara Westover and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.
Advance Praise
"“Resembling a novel in its sensory detail and riveting narrative… Ruth Clare's memoir takes us deeper, into the mind of the child and her day-to-day reality, where she is constantly primed for her father's next act of cruelty."" -- Australian Book Review
“A beautiful memoir about how our childhood shapes us and the scars it leaves.” -- Amra Pajalic, author
""The parallel strengths of this work are the author’s ability to reach out to her deeply troubled father with considerable empathy despite the domestic violence, fear and pain that stained her upbringing, and her determination not to let this insidious ‘enemy’ in her past invade her own adulthood, and her role as a parent.” -- Judges comments, Asher Literary Award
""...enormously rewarding and revealing exploration of the effects of war on family life and on the human soul and psyche.... an emotionally charged and thoroughly engaging book."" -- The Australian"
Featured Reviews
Kathleen B, Reviewer
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher (and author) for the Kindle ARC. Ruth Clare's memoir of growing up in a household ruled by a parent with PTSD is both heartbreaking and heart-felt. As a person who also grew up in a home with psychological abuse, her story is true to my heart. Her need to understand the actions of her father as she raises her own children also strikes a chord with the reader. I applaud Ms. Clare's courage and resilience in writing her story.
