In "Silent Sisters," Joanne Lee takes readers back in time to her traumatic and sometimes unimaginable childhood, one fraught with abuse, severe neglect, hunger and poverty all at the hands of her mother. There are times when it's hard to believe that a mother could care so little for her children (or just plain HUMANS!) that she would let them starve, intentionally leave them on their own at very young ages while she cavorted around town drinking heavily and being so promiscuous that she finds herself pregnant over and over again. During subsequent pregnancies, she hides her growing bump and then after birth, murders the babies and stuffs their bodies in a bin she keeps in her closet (?!?!). Most other times, she reads a magazine and gets drunk while her children starve, are injured (and refuses to treat them or take them to the hospital), feed themselves from the meager food in the house (when there is any food at all), steal milk from the neighbors' porches, all the while the electricity and gas are turned off and they are unable to even have a hot bath every now and then. From the age of 7/8, Joanne is wholly responsible for raising her (surviving) siblings from infancy through adulthood and keeping herself alive in the worst of circumstances. It's all so out of this world that it's hard to believe it could even happen in a first-world country (the UK) and under the eye of social authorities.

I also found it incredible that so many seemingly caring adults were in and out of Joanne's life (and the lives of her siblings) and either did not realize the extent of their neglect and abuse or could not do more to help them. The authorities were involved several times, all to no avail. Questions that remained for me include: What about Joanne's father? Why didn't he do more to help his daughter after the breakup with her mother? He knew what she was like and still he left his children in the mother's "care." Why didn't Joanne's own mother do more to help her grandchildren, especially when she saw first-hand the squalor they lived in and knew they were starving and neglected? How about Joanne's aunt (her mother's sister)--who appeared to be in denial about the children's neglect and abuse and later takes her sister's side against the children? How could this many adult family members have turned a blind eye to the plight endured by these innocent souls? Even after Joanne tells the police about the bodies of her sisters in the bin, and after a trial, the court only finds the mother guilty of hiding her pregnancies (WTH??!!) and she does very little time for her part in their deaths.

While the writing wasn't particularly strong and in many places Lee describes the atrocities with such matter-of-factness that it seems to lack emotion, I reminded myself that Lee is a survivor first and an author second. The lack of sophistication in storytelling does not render her memoir less compelling. However, I had a hard time connecting with her and her siblings emotionally, which could be due to the writing style, lack of development or editing.

That said, I found the story so intriguing that I researched Joanne's story online after finishing the book to find out more. As a memoir, I think there are others that are better developed and from stronger writers, but on balance, I'd rate this book a solid 3.5 stars and recommend it to those interested in true crime.

This was compelling and horrifying, reminiscent of The Glass Castle.

Joanne Lee was forced to grow up too fast by a negligent mother, sucked into raising her siblings when she was just a child herself, and set on a path that had her having her own child when she was still just a child. Her mother refused to do anything around the house, to interact beyond surface level with her children, or to provide for their basic needs. Leaving them instead to fend for themselves in squalor. That was only the beginning of the horror, though, that ended with multiple babies rotting in her bedroom, left for her daughter to figure out how to deal with - struggling between loyalty to a mother who did nothing for her, and and understanding of right and wrong and loyalty to her half-siblings who had all been defenseless.

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4

For over twenty years, Joanne Lee's mother kept the remains of three newborn babies hidden in a bin in her wardrobe. She had buried a fourth baby in newspaper and rags in St. Helens Cemetery. For the first time since exposing her mother's crimes, Joanne breaks her silence over her family's horrific ordeal and her fight for the siblings she never knew.

It's hard to believe when your reading this book that it's an actual real crime book. You could easily forget and put it down to the authors vivid imagination as some of the events that take place are quite shocking. Joanne is living with both her parents when the story starts, but then her parents split up and Joanne then line with her mother, Bernadette. Then Bernadette gets a new man, Karl, in her life and for a while family life is near enough perfect for again. Bernadette has a string of boyfriends and she even had an affair with one of Joanne's boyfriends. From a young age Joanne had to learn how to keep house while taking care of her younger siblings. This is quite a shocking and heartbreaking read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Mirror Books and the author Joanne Lee for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well written tale of a real life horrible situation. It is amazing that Joanne and Chris and Cath have all grown out of a nightmare to become productive members of society. The book is easy to read and hard to put down.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Netgalley.

True crime, very dark, but an interesting read. It definitely is hard to swallow.

Let me just start off by saying that this is not a light right. This book has some heavy subjects. I would say this book is not an easy to read memoir. From the first page we get the gritty details of the horrendous act that Joanne’s mother committed. I got really upset from the very beginning and I had to stop. Joanne might have been young in age when the book begins but she was mature beyond her years. I’m sad over the fact that she never had a childhood. Her mother neglected her and then had her become the mother of her own siblings. In the end I love the relationship and bond that she had with her sister but it was still unfair that she had to grow up so quickly. While her father cared about her, I feel like so many people failed them. I’m sure her mother had some type of mental illness. I can’t fathom losing a baby and stuffing them in a bin. Not just one baby but four babies.

Overall, Joanne is a survivor. I’m glad that she pushed through and regardless of how she grew up she was a wonderful mother to her kids. Her and her siblings seem to be very grounded despite what they had to go through. In her siblings case, I think a lot of it had to do with Joanne always looking out for them. She is ultimate big sister. So while this book is about her side of the story and what her mother put them through I think it is also about the bond of siblings and family. That no matter the bumps in your story it is important to keep going.

If your ok with hard subjects including child neglect and enjoy crime shows like Dateline then this book might be right up your lane. Thank you to NetGalley and Mirror books for my review copy.

JESUS CHRIST, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WAS EXPECTING, BUT IT WASN’T THIS! If any nonfiction book is to be made into a movie within the next year, PLEASE let it be this one. I absolutely ripped through the whole thing in under 12 hours, and during that time, I wasn’t able to put it down because I was so shocked and horrified that this is a REAL STORY from REAL LIFE. Good God. Joanne Lee’s story sounds like a nightmare straight out of a horror movie, but unfortunately, every word is true. She writes with such authenticity that it’s impossible for the reader’s heart to not break with each word, each new development as we see how Joanne’s mother lets her family down.

God. I know it’s dumb to talk about “spoilers” for nonfiction as if Google can’t answer everything for you, but just read the book. I’m shocked I didn’t know about this case until now. God.

It's hard to even begin to understand the horror Joanne Lee felt as she drove her mother towards the local cemetery with her sister's body in a bag in the boot. If there was any justice in the world nothing so awful would happen to her ever again but Joanne was not blessed with much justice in her life.

This book is written from Joanne's perspective and starts with a more fundamental horror,  if there can be such a thing, neglect. Her life, from her first recollections onwards, was one of taking care of herself, and then, gradually of those closest to her as well. Whilst I have no doubt her reasons for writing this book were to set the record straight, it would be a hard person who can't feel some sympathy for her as well.

The discovery and burial of her sister is the prologue to this book, the main story beginning with Joanne's own childhood and gradually moving with her through to the present day. She takes us along as she details the ups, downs, good and bad things which have dogged her every step. She comes across as driven and hardened by her experiences but is also clearly loyal and loving to those who matter to her the most. Joanne's history has shaped that of her children and grandchildren but she has made sure it is in a positive way, determined there would be no repetition of the negativity she experienced instead working to create an environment of love and understanding; something she only got sporadically herself growing up .

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book, in one sitting, thanks to Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys autobiographical true crime which shows how, with strength of spirit, even the most appalling things can positively change the future.

As soon as I saw the cover of this book, I felt drawn to it. The tattered, battered looking door that the child is cautiously looking outwards. It is very striking the small blonde haired, blue eyed image of innocence. Seriously the eyes of the child on the front cover seemed to grab my attention and I just couldn’t flick by it. I then read the byline of “A Daughters Horrifying Discovery. . . . A Mothers Secret Shame” and was curious as to what a mother could feel shame about when her daughter found out. What on earth horrified the daughter.
Then reading the blurb I felt I had to, wanted to listen/read this woman's side of the story of what had happened "behind closed doors" to her and her family. The genre’s listed for this book are Biographies, Memoir and True Crime which I do agree with. Yet after finishing reading the book and finding out what happens to the “mother” in the book can it really be categorised as crime?

This book is an account of Joanne Lee’s life with her mother Bernadette.
Bernadette definitely doesn’t come across as mother of the year in the book, in fact far from it. It makes you wonder why this woman kept continually allowing herself to get pregnant over and over again. There would have been plenty of contraceptive options around for her. Or was it purely a case of what seems to be her favourite saying within the book, “Can’t be arsed”.

Everything seems okay at the beginning of this book, Joanne lives in a house with her mother Bernadette and her father Michael. Things weren’t great between her parents but the first time Joanne seems to really notice is when aged six, she receives separate presents from her parents and ends up receiving exactly the same gift from them both.
The first big change is when her mum announces they are going to visit Nanny Pat. Nanny Pat is a very stern, strict woman, who has everything in its place and a lace for everything. Everything also had to appear prim and proper. It’s at the visit that Joanne senses something “big” is about to happen or be revealed as she is actually allowed to go sit on the couch in Nanny Pat’s pristine front room, normally reserved for the Priest when he comes calling. It’s while she is sat literally on the edge of her seat that her mother Bernadette, states that she and her dad, Michael are getting divorced. Sadly, the most dreaded difference Joanne anticipates is living with Nanny Pat. Whilst living at Nanny Pat’s Joanne is ironically the best cared for throughout the whole of her childhood. Poor Joanne is bitten by Nanny Pat’s beloved dog and really needs hospital care, which as Nanny Pat and Bernadette work there you would think they would just dash there with her, but no. Going to the hospital would mean explaining what had happened people would be wanting to know How? Why? Where? Everything had happened. Nanny Pat wanted to retain her pristine image and the neighbours finding out Joanne had been bitten by the family dog would wreck that. So, Bernadette holds Joanne down whilst Nanny Pat stitches the wound!

Bernadette soon has a new house and bloke, Karl, to go with it. Things are quite good for Joanne as Karl buys groceries once a week and helps keep things tidy. But the small glimpses of a better family life never ever last and Joanne knows this in her heart. Joanne is left to fend for herself from a very young age, her mum has multiple boyfriends. She had to learn how to cook herself a meal, wash and iron her clothes as well as care for her younger siblings, Cath & Chris. Bernadette would rather drink, in fact when she wasn’t at work, she was sat at home drinking.
Joanne meets her own boyfriend Mark and becomes pregnant at a young age just like her mother did. Sadly, a happy little family is not to be for Joanne when her son dies. It soon becomes apparent that whilst leaving her mother behind and getting a home of her own, she has also saddled herself with a male version of her mother in Mark.

I could go on and on and into much more detail about this book, but I feel I would “spoil” the reading experience so will not say much more about the plot. The book goes on to tell about how a baby is found in Bernadette’s wardrobe, contained in a red bin.
After losing a child of her own, and holding that baby in her arms, Joanne takes it upon herself to bury this baby from the red bin at the family grave at the local cemetery. Which she calmly does in broad daylight and then Bernadette just never ever mentions it again. Only Joanne thinks of when/what the babies, milestones would be. Joanne can never forget what she has done and lives in fear of being found out, put in prison and having to leave her own children motherless. Despite being let down time and time again Joanne gives both her mother and her own partner Mark chance after chance It is Joanne’s younger sister whom Joanne has been like a mother to that tells Joanne of the appearance of the “red bucket” again. This time Joanne has had enough and she cannot stay quiet or risk attempting to bury the contents of the red bin. Joanne confides in childhood friend Julie and then Julie’s mum. It was Julie’s mum that would make sure Joanne had something to eat for breakfast and clothes to wear for school, so she trusts them both.

There were many times in the book when I was thinking “oh, no Joanne” “not again Joanne” “how can you still help her”. You feel a whole range of emotions, anger at how Joanne is, treat by her mother Bernadette, her Nanny Pat, Mark and then finally Tom. The only light this child had in her life was her father’s parents, Nanny Edith & Grandad John, who were both deaf and communicated with Joanne via sign language. It is later in life when Joanne has a child who is deaf, some would say “something else for Joanne to cope with”. Joanne doesn’t see it that way, she sees her son as a special gift from her Nanny Edith.
Some readers may remember the newspaper coverage and the TV coverage of this case. I sort of vaguely remembered some of the stories I had read as I worked my way through this book. The book is thought provoking and pulls you through a huge range of emotions. The book is well written, very matter of fact about what happened and why. Joanne does not feel sorry for herself nor does she rely on others to help her in life, she quite literally rolls up her sleeves and gets on with it. She hasn't written this book for sympathy, or fame, she has wrote it to tell her story, the story of her siblings.

My final thoughts and words about the book and Joanne are they are both amazing, and yes as the byline says the story Joanne tells is horrifying and yet equally heart-breaking & heart-warming too.

This is a book in the vein of Glass Castle- the author, Joanne Lee is the daughter of a neglectful, abusive mother. During her childhood, Joanne has to care for herself both physically and emotionally. The mother goes on to have other children with different men, whom Joanne also has to take care of.
But the worst is yet to be uncovered, the mother, Bernadette Quirk, has hidden an even darker secret from her daughter and the world.
It is amazing that Ms. Lee was able to later become a loving, nurturing mother and wife.

When I started reading this book I had to check I picked the right book it starts off very dark and doesn't stop either. What this family went through is certainly shocking. The strength that Joanne had from such a young age to deal with what she has she is one amazing lady.
It was so well written I finished within a day and it stay with me for years to come.

Thank you Joanne and family for sharing this story of your family with us all.
Thanks to NetGalley author and publisher for my arc copy for a honest review.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Silent Sisters by Joanne Lee is a true story about the dysfunctional childhood she and her siblings endured. If you enjoyed Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, this book is for you. Great book for book clubs and discussion groups.

From the very day she was born Joanne Lee’s life was a challenge. No child should be treated the way she was. Her mother was uncaring and cold towards her and was not nurturing and caring at all. Mum more often than not did not prepare meals of any type and did not like to do housework either. Their home was squalid and stinking. She merely sat on the sofa proclaiming ‘I can’t be arsed’ with housework. She had a string of boyfriends who sometimes took notice of Joanna and tried hard to improve her life, but she didn’t like or encourage them, such was her desire to have her mother for herself. What she really wanted most of all was her mother to be a mother to her. Her mother had another baby and Joanne became a mother to her baby sister and then to her baby brother. Her mother hardly ever got up to see her children to school and Joanne became carer for all three of them when boyfriends had had enough of Bernadette’s slovenly ways, her drinking and her unacceptable behaviour.
I thought Joanne was a saint in her adult years to help her mother out with some odious and illegal acts, to visit her and invite her to home cooked meals. Her mother didn’t deserve it but Joanne couldn’t help herself, she was loyal and wanted to do what was right and be a good daughter. When she became a mother herself, she always made sure that her children were loved, cared for and taught good manners. She knew that she didn’t want her offspring to have the sort of neglect and physical, mental and psychological cruelty that she had lived through, but to have sweet memories to cherish and look back on.
Then one day she made a macabre discovery. You will have read about it in the ‘blurb’. That is when Joanne decides that she could not live a lie and continue to be loyal to her mother any more. She had always suffered from disturbing, violent and scary nightmares and just had to unburden herself for her own wellbeing. She told her caring and supportive neighbour what she had discovered and thereafter broke her silence. She was not able to keep her mother’s secrets any longer. It was tormenting her and what’s more she knew it was wrong. The police arrived and later Joanne found out that her mother had put all of the blame on her. She was accused of multiple murders.
I don’t want to spoil your enjoyment of this harrowing true story retold by Joanne, but suffice it to say that her mother was evil, conniving and most probably suffering from a severe mental illness. But that does not excuse her manipulation and criminality. I found this story dark, disturbing and totally shocking and shaming. I cannot imagine the lifelong damage suffered by her family members. So much so that eventually Joanne felt it was her duty to put the rumourmongers and storytellers right by going public and eventually writing this memoir. The contents of her heart-breaking story will leave you hollow and dumbstruck. You cannot imagine the degradation and horror that Joanne was born into. Days after reading her story I feel totally flat, stunned and aghast. But it did however make for compelling, if astounding and alarming reading.
In this debut Joanne tackles the taboos in life, cruelty, mental health issues, alcoholism, abuse and criminal actions. She writes with honesty and with a keen eye on truthfulness and transparency. I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Mirror Books through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy. These are my own honest and well considered opinions. This is my 3.5* review.

Silent sisters makes you think how important it is to show love, display love, and how important family is to all of us. I love how the book not only wanted me to keep turning pages but also feel for the characters!

What a heartbreaking read. All my sympathy goes to the author and not the mother. Extremely well written and honest. I Liked how the author explained in detail what her life was like growing up with her disfunctional, uncaring,selfish and evil Mum. It was shocking what her mother did and how she treated all her children.
I'm actually suprised the author survived it all and has remained so level headed and strong. I hope the future is so much brighter for Joanne and her family.

What a sordid ghastly story. Joanne Lee grew up with a apathetic mother who lived in squalor and not only neglected her, but relied on her to care for her two younger siblings. The family had a propensity to have teenage mothers through three generations. Lee stumbles across a horrific truth: her mother hoarded a baby's body. Lee holds the truth in for a few years, but after she divulges it, the authorities find three more badly decomposed bodies in her mother's home. I felt like I needed a stiff drink throughout most of the book. The real heroine of this story is Joanne, who made some bad choices in her life, but given the lack of guidance she wasn't given in her childhood, I think she is not only a survivor, but also a testament to the family she created.

Gripping true crime memoir. I've not read anything quite like it before.

What a story. Such a sad childhood, so many things happened, you just can't imagine. It kept me reading on and on. It was action packed; it tumbled along at a heck of a pace. A really quick easy read. You just won't guess the happenings, and there are so many.

Not just about this case-the book starts back at her childhood, family life, an early family holiday to Cornwall. Memories. And terrible dysfunction and conditions.

If this was a fiction book you'd be saying, wow, that was so good, a real roller coaster of events. But this was someone's real life. Such a powerful and tragic tale. And it all happened not that far from where I live. Wow, what an amazing book.

Silent Sister is a horrific true story set in Merseyside, it was quite a shocking read and was very well written.

For over 20 years, Joanne Lee's mother kept the remains of not one, but three newborn babies hidden in a bin in her wardrobe.

She had buried a fourth baby in newspaper and rags in St Helens Cemetery.

For the first time since exposing her mother's crimes, Joanne breaks her silence over her family's horrific ordeal and her fight for justice for the siblings she never knew.

Growing up in chaotic circumstances on Merseyside, Joanne suffered at the hands of a violent boyfriend and controlling relatives, as her mother lapsed into a downward spiral of drinking and casual sex following the break-up of her marriage. But the consequences of her mother's messy lifestyle turned out to be far 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 realized that the family home held an even more sinister secret.

In Silent Sisters, the daughter who was falsely accused of murdering her own baby sister will tell her full story for the first time, detailing her struggle to understand her mother, to piece together the truth and to give the four babies the proper burial they deserve.

I was of course not one to enjoy such the horrific story of Joanne Lee's life. At times it did drag too much. The retelling of stories. Sometimes the recounting of stories changed. I don't know what to make of this. It is a sad case.

Written by Joanne Lee, she tells about her life as a young girl growing up and feeling ignored by her really dysfunctional mom in Merseyside. She’s ignored, left to raise herself after her parent’s divorce when her mom dives into dating and starts having kids that she then puts on this young girl to take care of while mom just drinks and watches “telly”. Joanne eventually begins missing a lot of school because she’s too busy doing all of the cleaning, cooking, laundry, and childcare for her mother’s growing brood. When she gets a bit older, her mom begins inviting over young guys her daughter’s age at night to party with, telling her that she needs to have some fun too. But that was more for the mom’s benefit. It’s a bizarre yet fascinating story and it keeps on getting crazier. You wonder how much someone can put up with. It kind of has to be read to be believed at times as the daughters get older. I try not to read much of the info from the description or jacket before I read books, so some of them really come as a quite a surprise as I’m reading them, as this one did. I had a lot of empathy for Joanne and what she went through. Especially what happened later with the dead babies, which I’m not going into here. Get the book and read it if you’re interested in this unusual story. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Joanne Lee, and Mirror Books