About the Book

A Child’s Hell & Torment by Sharon Stinson is a harrowing memoir documenting the childhood abuse suffered by Sara Marie from birth through age fifteen. Adopted by her great aunt and uncle after her biological mother’s alcoholism led to her removal, Sara endures systematic physical, emotional, and sexual abuse within a family that “all knew no one would help.” The narrative follows Sara from her birth in 1954 through her eventual escape. Jack, her adoptive father and a police officer, savagely beats her while Aileen, her adoptive mother, orchestrates punishments out of jealousy and rejection. The abuse escalates from daily brutality to incest when Sara reaches adolescence. Extended family members—uncles, cousins, and even biological relatives—perpetrate additional sexual assaults.

Stinson writes with stark, unflinching detail that gives testimony to the profound failures of family, church, education, and legal systems to protect one vulnerable child. This deeply disturbing yet important work documents the reality of familial abuse and one survivor’s ultimate determination to survive.