The Asylum

By: Ann Cusack - contributor, Carol Minto, Joe Cusack - contributor

Narrated by: Fiona McNeill

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

For 46 years, Carol Minto has quietly gone about her life, carrying with her the most extraordinary and heartbreaking secrets.

Born into poverty and with mostly absent parents, Carol helped to raise her nine siblings. But when she was just 11 years old, her older brother began to sexually abuse her. After four years, Carol managed to escape - and ran away from home.

Picked up by social services, they place her at Aston Hall in Derby, a psychiatric hospital now infamous for the ghoulish ‘truth serum’ experiments it carried out on children. Over three years, Carol was stripped, sedated, assaulted and raped by Kenneth Milner, the doctor in charge.

Eventually she is released back into the community, aged 18, and has a daughter. But the baby is taken away for adoption, and Carol’s trauma intensifies. In 2010, Carol finally plucked up the courage to speak out about the abuse she suffered - and received justice, at last.

In The Asylum, Carol tells the full story of how she overcame unimaginable suffering, to find the happiness and solace she has today as a mother and grandmother.

©2021 Ann Cusack (P)2021 W F Howes

Can’t believe her Dad didn’t believe her. So horrible.

Hated that her Mom didn’t protect her. No child should be treated the way she was. They all needed God in their lives.

Narrator horrible good book

Narrator was really really bad . She does a long pause at the end of EACH sentence! It drove me crazy! But the story was good so I wanted to know what happened next . It also took me a minute to figure out that getto was actually “girls”. So I think if you can tolerate the narrator the story is good!

Excellent book and excellent narrator

so many people complained about not being able to understand the narrators thick Scottish accent....I disagree. she was easy to understand. I almost did not buy this book due to the negative reviews. so glad I didn't listen!

Fantastic book. Couldn’t stop listening.

Really enjoyed this book. So tragic what happened to all involved. Thanks to Carol for sharing her story.

A brave story to tell

It is unbelievable how failed the system was all those years ago in protecting those that needed protecting. In this young girls case it was her leaving a desperate situation and then throwing her to the wolves. A story where so many turned their back on a vulnerable young girl.
Heartwarming that she was a survivor.

good book

I enjoy this story. It was so sad to hear that it happen. I'm glad she had some good time.

Inspiring!!

The perseverance in the face of the adversity is truly inspiring! Definitely worth the listen!

Horrific Reality

This is the horrific exposure of atrocities committed against beautiful, helpless young children and women by members of their families and later by a corrupt system of social services. The social workers, and even the doctors and nurses who claimed to be trying to help, "disturbed" teenagers were actually abusing them physically, mentally, and sexually.
Primarily, this is the story of Carol Mackey and how her life was damaged at every phase from the time she was a very young child when her brother, Ian, starting sexually abusing her with kitchen utensils. Every time she sought help from an adult, including her own mother, she was called a liar and was shunned as a troublemaker. I thought that the narrator, to me, seemed choppy and stilted. Otherwise, this was definitely a story that needed to be told to make others aware that there are sick and perverted people hiding behind the mask of helpers to the helpless.

Worth it

To the contributor thank you for speaking out your words change so many lives and awakens silence

Wow! So many feelings

Carol lived through it! I am so proud of you, if you read this. This book will take you through so many emotions. It's not a "light book". This is deep with many painful layers. The very idea Carol persevered, got on her feet again and went toe to toe with the ugly injustices of her childhood is a testament to her character.
Very VERY binge worthy audiobook. I finished it in 24 hours.