The Unthinkable by David Challen, Paperback, 9781914240270 | Buy online at The Nile
Departments
 Free Returns*

The Unthinkable

A Story of Control, Violence and My Mother

Author: David Challen  

The Unthinkable
Paperback

The story of what abusive behaviour can do to a person, a family and how one woman's plight can change the justice system.

Read more
Pre order release date
10th June 2025
Pre Order
$30.39
Or pay later with
Free 30 day returns       Secure transaction
Pre order release date
10th June 2025
Check delivery options
Paperback

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

The story of what abusive behaviour can do to a person, a family and how one woman's plight can change the justice system.

Read more

Description

"When [my mother] struck, it was with the cumulative rage of 30 years of hurt."

David Challen grew up in the perfect home with the model family.

David Challen also grew up inside a house which concealed his father's manipulation and control.

On a Saturday in 2010, his mother struck twenty blows to the back of her husband's head with a hammer after 35 years of abuse. She then turned off the stove she had been cooking his lunch on and washed the dirty dishes and left the house. In those few minutes, David's life was changed forever.

Over the next decade, he led the fight to overturn her conviction; and in doing so he not only freed his mother and transformed the legal system but also became a voice for the countless victims of coercive control across the country.

Read more

About the Author

David Challen is a domestic abuse campaigner. He successfully campaigned to free his mother in a landmark appeal recognising the lifetime of coercive control she suffered. David continues to speak out against violence against women and is a Prison Advice and Care Trust Ambassador (PACT).

Read more

More on this Book

"On a Saturday morning in August 2010 my mother, Sally Challen, killed my father, Richard, at the family home with twenty blows of a hammer to the head. She was sentenced to life behind bars after suffering 40 years of abuse." David Challen grew up in a household that was accustomed to his father's abuse and coercive behaviour - his criticisms, humiliations, manipulations and mind games. As David grew older, he realised there was something deeply wrong with the way his father treated their mother, Sally. Though she eventually left him, it was only weeks later that she murdered her husband of 31 years, leaving David with the most unimaginable moral dilemma: defending his mother. CONTROL tells the story of the abuse Challen unknowingly witnessed throughout his childhood, the coercive control that led to his mother, Sally Challen, killing his father, and the subsequent "trial that changed everything for women".

Read more

Product Details

Publisher
Octopus Publishing Group | BRAZEN
Published
10th June 2025
Pages
288
ISBN
9781914240270

Returns

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.

Pre Order
$30.39
Or pay later with
Free 30 day returns       Secure transaction
Pre order release date
10th June 2025
Check delivery options
Browse by category
YOUR PAYMENT IS SECURE

We use 100% PCI DSS compliant payment services. That means your payment information is always protected, and never gets seen by anyone.
30-DAY FREE RETURN POLICY

Return nearly all items within 30 days of delivery. Unused or faulty items are acceptable as free returns. *Exceptions apply, see our returns policy.

The Nile
Follow Us
Help & Support
Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 The Nile Group.

Zip

 AfterPay

PayPal

Credit Card
Buy Baby at The Nile
 
 
 
Buy Toys at The Nile
Buy Books at The Nile
Buy Movies & TV at The Nile
Our Top Brands