Review by BRIGITTE ROZARIO

ESCAPING DADDY
By Maria Landon
Publisher: Harper Element

This is one of those books that I didn't want to review because the subject matter – a child pushed into prostitution – would be so disgusting.

It is the true life story of the author who was raped and then pushed into prostitution by her own father. Imagine your own father helping to hold you down as another man rapes you. All the while dad is saying, “Don't fight it.”

That's how bad it was for Maria.

From an early age, Maria's dad brainwashed her to believe that nobody would want her or love her except for him. As a result she idolised him.

Her mum had to deal with abuse, the terror of living with a man who forced her into prostitution and used all the money for his drinking habit.

It was too much for mum to bear so one day while Maria and her brothers were still small, mum just left without so much as a goodbye.

Maria was always either fearful of her father or trying desperately to please him. Her dad had brainwashed her to the point that even on the occasions that he was locked up and she was in a foster home, she would run away and end up back with him as soon as he was freed. Her dad had brainwashed her that if anything would happen to him, she and her brother would end up in a children's home where everyone would hate her. And, she believed him.

At 15, she met and “fell in love” with Brian, a man much older than her. Although he was nice to her, they had no money and soon Maria found herself back on the street selling her body to support them both.

At 17, Maria became pregnant with Brian's child. It was then that she wanted to break free from her dad because now she had to protect her child from the terror of her dad and the risk of having her child going down the same path as she did.

Maria ends up leaving Brian only to fall for Rodney who seems perfect in the beginning.

Rodney is the one who gives her a reason to live again on one of the occasions when she attempts suicide.

But Rodney ends up being very controlling and possessive. He stops her from working for fear that she'd leave him. He insists she can only work with him, and even then he accuses her of having affairs the moment he catches her talking to any other man.

Despite all this, Maria remains with Rodney. By now his ex-wife and his kids have become part of Maria's extended family. It is for their sake that she stays on through the beatings and abuse.

The few occasions Maria tries to escape from Rodney and his abuse, she ends up going back to her dad because she has nowhere else to go.

Maria takes many years of therapy and counselling to break free from all the abuse and abusive men in her life. Through it all she tries to escape her father and the control he has on her through the years of brainwash and abuse.

It takes her a long time to build her self-confidence and learn to stand up for herself.

There are some horrible details of how her father would sexually abuse her and pimp her but thankfully most of the book is more about Maria's life after she's moved out of her father's house.

A large part of the book is about her trying to regain her confidence and break free from the cycle of abusive relationships she is in.

It is an interesting book to read because it tells of one woman's struggle with her own inner demons and trying to make something of herself in order to gain independence and confidence.

It is enlightening and will help you see how what you do and say to your children today really does affect them over a long period of time and moulds them into the adults they will become.

It is believed that girls often grow up to marry men just like their dad.

To all parents, give your children positive messages about yourselves and your family so they don't one day end up in an abusive cycle like Maria.