Tears of the Silenced

Publisher's Summary

A true crime memoir: 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. Their stepfather kept a loaded rifle by the door at all times to make sure the young girls were too terrified to try to escape. They also knew that no rescue would ever come because only a couple of people even knew they existed and did not know them well enough to care.

Amish sexual abuse: 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. Going to the police was severely frowned upon. A few years later, Misty was sexually assaulted by the bishop. As Misty recalls, "Amish sexual abusers are only shunned by the church for six weeks, a punishment that never seems to work. After I was assaulted by the bishop I knew I had to get help and one freezing morning in early March I made a dash for a tiny police station in rural Minnesota. After reporting the bishop I left the Amish and found myself plummeted into the strange modern world with only a second-grade education and no ID or social security card. To all abuse survivors out there, please be encouraged, the cycle of abuse can be broken. Today, I am a nursing student working towards my master's degree and a child abuse awareness activist. This is my story."  

Contains mature themes.

©2018 Misty E. Griffin (P)2019 Tantor

Take it with a Grain of Salt.

This book is so hard to read, and I am not finished. I love Cassandra Campbell, which makes it easier to continue.
I am sure that the author went through some traumatic experiences. I truly believe that she did. Not to be insensitive, but I am reading it with great skepticism.
I came to this country at the age of 18 with no parents, no support and no English. I went through some terrible times, had to enroll in a community college to learn English, etc.… I did not know much about the culture or the American ways. I grew up in poverty and total ignorance behind the iron curtain. Struggling through life at a young age without much support can be devastating. I can empathize with the author; however, I do not fully believe her story. Somehow it just doesn’t ring true. Perhaps because I had similar experiences plus no communication skills. Some events in her life just aren’t believable, such as learning to write by tracing texts of her mother’s novels, really?
Also, I wonder why the adults in her life, after she left the Amish, were so odd? Why didn’t her aunt help her with the preparation for her GED test? She took her to the back room of her retired hairdresser to pierce her ears, but failed to mention that her upcoming test will be a multiple choice?
I guess knowing how to dial 911 was learned from the TV show “Law and Order” …LOL
There are some other facts in this book that raise much doubt.
I do not know anything about the Amish ways, so I can't comment, but I must agree with other reviewers that with a self-published book, there is no fact checker.

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