Can never go wrong with Sandra Brown. She once again takes readers on a bumpy ride

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be raised by psychotic, crazy people, you will find out by reading Maude Julien's story. This book is translated from the original French, and while not overly dazzling writing, it's well done. The end does provide hope, but reading though the unimaginable horrors of Maude's childhood won't leave you with warm fuzzies.

Really, Maude's father is the truly crazy one, believing himself to be a highly superior human. He thinks he's a knight, a Freemason, and a Chosen one, and that it's his responsibility to raise his daughter to "control the weak-minded and bring about the great regeneration of the universe." Maude's mother probably didn't start out crazy, just never got the opportunity to become who she should've, could've been. Drawing on her father's poverty, Louis Didier had his wife entrusted to his care when she was only six years old, immediately beginning her "education" and grooming to be a suitable mother for their child. Unfortunately, this upbringing doesn't leave Jeannine Didier with many faculties for being a warm and loving mother.

When their daughter, Maude, is three years old, he sequesters the family in a house with him virtually isolated from civilization. Maude and her mother have to be subservient to Monsieur Didier in every way, from taking a bath in the same water that he's used (and only twice a month at that!), to holding a bowl for him to pee in, to sitting in his room in silence day after day when he is ill. In an effort to train Maude up to become a superhuman, her father subjects her to many tests to strengthen her natural impulses, including having to grasp an electric fence without making a face or a sound, doing arithmetic for 10 or more hours a day with no break, sitting up all night in a chair in a completely dark cellar with rats in order to "meditate on death." He makes Maude attempt to move things with her mind so that she will have a powerfully trained mind, able to resist toture should she be persecuted. When failed, all of these "tests" have severe consequences in addition to her parent's extreme disappointment--silent treatment and not being allowed to speak for over a month, being tossed into a freezing cold pool of water repeatedly, being forced to abuse her animals. Over time, Maude has glimpses of her mother's hatred for her husband, and she can't understand why her mother doesn't love her, or at the very least help her make a plan to get the two of them out from under her father's tyranny.

Maude eventually escapes her household and cruel parents thanks to a wise and caring music teacher. She benefits from therapy and even becomes a therapist herself. She marries and has daughters of her own, but can never completely shake the effects of her torturous childhood.

I enjoyed this book but I didn't think it fully developed the depths of the relationships. What really happened to our protagonist? Did she really escape? Interesting questions without answers.

A new author for me....already looking forward to Ms Julien's next story. Enjoyed this novel!!!

In an effort to turn her into a superhuman, Maude's father rigidly controlled every aspect of her life. In addition to rigidly controlling her diet and amount of sleep, her father created tasks and obstacles designed to eliminate weakness. Maude had to swim in freezing temperatures, hold onto the electric fence, drink large quantities of alcohol and then perform tasks and countless other drills and tasks. Isolated from others, Maude dreamed of a normal life.

This was a fascinating yet heartbreaking story. The author did an amazing job of keeping her adult feelings out of the book and telling a pure story. I would like to read a sequel, showing how Maude overcame her father's teachings and legacy. Overall, highly recommended.

I just finished reading this book. I must say that as I was wading through it I kept asking myself why. I found it very depressing and also hard to imagine living the life that this author did. I was happy to read that in the end she conquered most of her fears. I did not find it at all uplifting. It was a memoir about very damaged people. I found it so hard to believe that people could treat the members of their own family in such a horrific way.

It never ceases to amaze me how cruel humans can be, and in this memoir, Julian recounts the nightmare she lived every day growing up with a dangerously disturbed father and a weak and terrified mother. The little family, mother, father and child live in an isolate house in the country, giving the author no chance to make friends, no way to contact neighbors for help. She is systematically tortured by such routines as a “Meditation on Death” where she is left alone in a dark cellar and told not to move or to speak. If she opens her mouth, the rats and spiders will crawl inside her and eat her from the inside out. Her food is allowed to go stale before she is allowed to eat it. Life has no pleasure, and Julian exists merely as a possession of her parents, theirs to do whatever they wished. This is a disturbing, but remarkable story of survival and resilience that will be compared to the Glass Castle. Harrowing