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Original Sins

An Extraordinary Memoir of Faith, Family, Shame and Addiction

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Original Sins

By: Matt Rowland Hill
Narrated by: Daniel Hawksford
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'Isn't everyone's childhood an indoctrination in the more or less deranged outlook of the people who raised them? And isn't growing up for everyone a more or less successful attempt to overcome their conditioning and see clearly, with their own eyes?'

Matt Rowland Hill grew up the son of a minister in an evangelical Christian church in South Wales and then South-East England. It was a childhood fraught with bitter family conflict, the ever-present threat of hell and damnation, and a burgeoning cycle of temptation, sin and shame. After a devastating loss of faith in his late teens, Matt began his search for salvation elsewhere, turning to books before developing a growing relationship with alcohol and drugs. He became addicted to crack and heroin in his early 20s, an ordeal that stretched over a decade and culminated in a period of hopeless darkness. This story takes us to his bleakest, most desperate moments and recounts his struggle towards the light.

Original Sins is an extraordinary memoir. It is a story of faith, family, loss, shame and addiction, but ultimately it is about survival, growing up and learning to live. It's recklessly honest, as funny as it is grave, courageous and compulsive.

©2022 Matt Rowland Hill (P)2022 Penguin Audio Christian Living Christianity Memoir Heartfelt
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I love the way this book made me feel uncomfortable. An in-depth look at what it’s like to be an addict.
Great use of vocabulary and brilliant narration.

Gritty and well narrated

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This is an absolutely brilliant rollercoaster of a memoir. Made me laugh and cry. Thank you Matt Rolland Hill for sharing your story with such vulnerability and openness. It resonated with me for many reasons. Fantastic narration also.

Thank you Matt Rowland Hill

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A brilliantly written (and narrated) account of the author’s descent into addiction and his hard-won recovery. If you have any sort of addiction, know someone who has or just want a story of survival, told with brutal honesty, plenty of dark humour and hope when all seems lost, this is a must.

Brilliant account

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I very personal journey everyone should read this really helps you to understand the draw of addiction

The other side of being dependent on drugs

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This is an amazing book. I think each listener will take something different away from this, so hard to describe it and do it justice - just listen to it

amazing listen

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