Showing titles in Dysfunctional Families

The sexual assault that rocked the world. A courageous woman’s rallying call for ‘shame to change sides’. For the very first time, Gisèle Pelicot tells her story. Narrated by Academy Award winning actress Dame Emma Thompson. *A BEST BOOK OF 2026 FOR THE OBSERVER, TELEGRAPH, GUARDIAN...

In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents' emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you'll learn how to create positive new relationships so you can build a better life.

A powerful, moving true story from Sunday Times bestseller, Maggie Hartley, Britain's most-loved foster carer. Perfect for fans of Cathy Glass. Fourteen-year-old Kayla goes to live with Maggie after her mum is sectioned due to an ongoing battle with her mental health. Despite everything she had...

From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog – now the subject of a new Disney+ docuseries – and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing. Shari...

If you are a survivor of family trauma, "home" was never a sanctuary. It was a place of pain, instability, and fear. You may have longed for a home filled with love, nurturing, connection, belonging, and safety―but instead were met with dysfunction and emotional harm. When a home is toxic, it...

London, 1923. Cyril Black is finally out of prison. Rather than going home to his wife and son, he visits his mistress only to find that she's given birth to his daughter - and wants nothing to do with her. His wife, Florrie, reluctantly agrees to take them in. But there's no love in her heart...

Imagine waking up each day free from the weight of toxic relationships and mental clutter, confident in your ability to set boundaries, and inspired to live a life aligned with your true values. This 10-in-1 Workbook Collection is your ultimate roadmap to emotional freedom, resilience, and a purpose-driven life.

'Soars with compassion, intelligence and hard-won wisdom ... a standout book' LOUISE KENNEDY From the Number One bestselling author of Poor 'Utterly compelling' EDEL COFFEY 'Raw and profound' LIZ NUGENT 'I couldn't put it down' ELAINE FEENEY Katriona O'Sullivan has come a long way from the...

Co-written by the writer of Sunday Times bestsellers The Asylum, The Convent, Silent Sisters and Abandoned, this is the harrowing emotional story of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of a father.

The eleventh memoir and latest title from the internationally bestselling author and foster carer Cathy Glass. This book tells the true story of Cathy’s adopted daughter Lucy. Lucy was born to a single mother who had been abused and neglected for most of her own childhood. Right from the...

What possesses a mum to kidnap her own child? That's what Maggie asks herself when she's asked to foster 13-year-old Saskia, the subject of a bitter custody battle between her parents. When Saskia's mum Rosa fears the courts are going to favour her ex-husband, James, she takes matters into her own hands. With Rosa facing criminal charges, and Saskia refusing to live with her dad, her future looks uncertain. Will Maggie be able to step in and discover the bombshell that will tear this family apart?

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, which began on 2 September 2024, has captured the world's attention. Behind the haunting details of Pelicot's unthinkable crimes are a mother, Gisèle Pelicot, and a daughter, Caroline Darian, who were forced to rebuild their lives. This is their story. In...

Tilly hates her stepfather, Dave. He abuses her mother, but she refuses to leave him. Frightened for her own safety, Tilly asks to go into foster care and is placed with Cathy. Tilly arrives with a graze on her cheek and Cathy becomes increasingly concerned by Dave’s behaviour, especially when...

The true story of Melody, aged 8, the last of five siblings to be taken from her drug dependent single mother and brought into care. When Cathy is told about Melody’s terrible childhood, she is sure she’s heard it all before. But it isn’t long before she feels there is more going on than...

THE CHILLING NEW BOOK FROM BESTSELLING AUTHOR, HOWARD SOUNES THAT SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON THE FRED & ROSE WEST MURDER INVESTIGATIONS Thirty years since the death of Fred West and the conviction of his wife Rose, in 1995, the West murder case exerts a magnetic fascination for true crime readers. The...

The true story of a 6-year-old boy with a dreadful secret. Oskar’s school teacher raises the alarm. Oskar’s mother is abroad and he has been left in the care of ‘friends’, but has been arriving in school hungry, unkempt, and with bruises on his arms, legs and body. Experienced foster...

At just 10 years old, Kirsty has suffered a lifetime of heartache. Neglected by her teenage mother and taken into care, Kirsty thought she had found her forever family when she was fostered by Pat and Mike. But when Pat has a heart attack and collapses in front of her, Kirsty's foster family say it's her fault. Kirsty is still reeling from this rejection when she comes to live with foster carer Maggie Hartley. She acts out, smashing up Maggie's home, and even threatens to hurt the baby boy Maggie has fostered since birth.

Abby's Story is the second book in the Thrown Away Children series by author and foster mum Louise Allen. She doesn't want this baby. She can't look after this baby. She will never be able to love this baby. Little Abby's life begins badly, then just gets worse. Now foster mum Louise and her family must help her deal with the truth of her past to give her the chance of a future.

'One of the funniest books I have ever read' HADLEY FREEMAN ‘A masterpiece’ SATHNAM SANGHERA 'The read of the summer' THE SUNDAY TIMES 'Brilliant … funny and moving' ADAM KAY A searingly honest, funny and moving family memoir in which David Baddiel exposes his mother’s idiosyncratic sex...

There was only one man Sammy could turn to… With his young mother in and out of prison, Sammy has been in care since he was nine years old. Left feeling entirely alone, he has never had a proper safe haven. There is one person looking out for Sammy: his neighbour, ‘Uncle Kenny’. But while...

Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but...

FROM THE MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE WEDDING PEOPLE On a bright summer evening in 1990s Connecticut, fourteen-year-old Emily Vidal stands on her parents' lawn, watching the adults arrive. Her mother is hosting a lavish birthday party for her father, even though he is about to leave...

Lara was seven when her birth mother died from a drug overdose. With no extended family to look after her, she was put into foster care. The care system failed Lara and now she is failing her son. Lara and her one-year-old son, Arthur, are brought to experienced foster carer, Cathy Glass, by...

For more than two years, BBC Radio 4's The Archers ran a disturbing storyline centred on Helen Tichener's abuse at the hands of her husband Rob. Not the kind of abuse that leaves a bruise, but the sort of coercive control that breaks your spirit and makes it almost impossible to walk away. As she listened to the unfolding story, Helen Walmsley-Johnson was forced to confront her own agonising past. Helen's first husband controlled her life, from the people she saw to what was in her bank account.

NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025, AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS The heart-breaking account of a search for the truth behind the brutal killings that shocked a nation. On 29 August 2016, devastating news hit the headlines that an entire family was found dead in a rural community. For Jacqueline...

In this groundbreaking bestseller, Lundy Bancroft—a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men—uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship. He says he loves...

When six-week-old Jasmine is placed in her care, foster mother Maggie Hartley is delighted to have a baby in the house again. Maggie's been given temporary custody of Jasmine after social services were concerned that the baby was failing to thrive and develop. With Maggie's love and care, Jasmine soon flourishes into a healthy, happy baby - but it is clear that all is not quite as it seems with her mum, Hailey.

When foster carer, Cathy Glass, is asked to foster Darcy-May, a two-day old baby, she is very concerned. The baby is coming to her straight from hospital and will have no contact with her teenage mother, Haylea. Even more worrying, she will be brought to Cathy with a police escort as it’s...

The No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller. At just eight years old, Jodie is violent, aggressive and extremely challenging. Five carers in four months have been unable to cope, but there is one last hope: Cathy Glass… As Jodie begins to trust Cathy and make progress, shocking details about her past...

Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better. 

When Misty was six years old, her family started to live and dress like the Amish. Misty and her sister were kept as slaves on a mountain ranch where they were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. When Misty reached her teens, her parents feared she and her sister would escape and took them to an Amish community where they were adopted and became baptized members. Misty was devastated to once again find herself in a world of fear, animal cruelty, and sexual abuse.