You Made Me This Way

A powerful personal investigation into trauma, hope and healing from the author of the memoir Fourteen

Author: Shannon Molloy

Paperback

New

$30.39

Or pay later with

Free 30 day returns Secure transaction

Check delivery options

Paperback

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Description

A harrowing and heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful book about one of our society's deepest shames, from Shannon Molloy, the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Fourteen.

Part memoir, part investigation into the taboo topic of male child sexual abuse, You Made Me This Way is a very personal book, driven by Shannon revealing his own experience of having been sexually abused as a young child, and his grappling to understand how this has shaped him.

The majority of men sexually abused as children never speak about their past and hide their shame and trauma away, forever carrying an enormous burden on their own, often with terrible consequences. Shannon interviews survivors, learning about their hard-won insights, as well as experts, researchers, and therapists, making this book a vitally important step in encouraging conversation about what we must do to better support these men and the systematic changes needed in order to better protect children in the future.

Raw, honest, deeply important and inspiring in its courage, this book shines a light on this darkness in our society - and the challenge to all of us is not to look away.

'Part memoir, part exploratory research project, Molloy's second book is an urgent and genre-defying feat of storytelling.' Books+Publishing

'It's difficult to overstate the importance of You Made Me This Way, or the courage of the man who wrote it. Male child sexual abuse is not often explored in such depth - or with such candour. It is a taboo and tricky subject which Molloy tackles with grace and vulnerability, sharing his own experience, and talking with other survivors who have entrusted him with their stories. They are in good hands with Molloy, who understands their feelings of shame, anger and confusion. I cried several times reading this book, and so has everyone else I know who has read it. I cried for the little boys these men once were, their innocence taken, trust broken and voices silenced. Molloy's beautifully written book gives them a safe space to be heard.' Courier Mail

'A moving, taboo-breaking exploration of childhood sexual abuse. Shannon Molloy's sensitivity is a gift to a country where young men are encouraged to keep their shame a secret.' LECH BLAINE

'Through the deep fractures of trauma, Shannon Molloy writes with tenderness, conviction and above all, heart. Reading these experiences, shared from the farthest brinks of vulnerability, is uncomfortable, yet wholly necessary.' BRANDON JACK

Critic Reviews

Daniel Nour: Known for his feature journalism as well as his acclaimed memoir of teenage struggle, Fourteen, Shannon Molloy has turned his keen eye to a more expansive project in You Made Me This Way. Molloys firsthand account of childhood molestation, by a school friend a few years his senior, is placed like a landmine at the beginning of this story, its psychological consequences rippling through the ensuing book. As well as chronicling self-destructive drinking and workaholism, the great feat of Molloys writing is its astute rendering of shame. In addition to recounting his personal journey of healing, conveyed through conversations with his psychiatrist, Molloy has undertaken a methodical research project about the child sexual abuse crisis in Australia, interviewing survivors, lawyers and mental health experts. It is a crisis about which, Molloy writes, we 'should all collectively feel shame and rage and demand more from the legal system'. It is the platform that he gives a broad variety of survivors, memorialising their harrowing accounts with care and precision, which gives You Made Me This Way its profound value. Not only does it foster conversation and amplify the voices of survivors, it also offers a tribute to those who lost their lives to abuse. Part memoir, part exploratory research project, Molloys second book is an urgent and genre-defying feat of storytelling. Daniel Nour is an Egyptian-Australian journalist and member of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. His work has been published in the New York Times, SBS Voices, Meanjin, Griffith Review and Eureka Street. He has been awarded a mentorship to develop a manuscript with Affirm Press. Books+Publishing is Australia's number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

About the Author

Shannon Molloy is an award-winning journalist and author with more than fifteen years' experience working for major media outlets spanning print, digital and publishing. He began his career at Fairfax in Brisbane as an award-winning news reporter and has since covered property, business, entertainment and human interest. He spent seven years working for News Corp as an entertainment reporter and feature writer, then as News Editor of news.com.au. He is currently the News Editor at realestate.com.au.Shannon was the 2020 recipient of Journalist of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards. His debut book, Fourteen, a memoir about growing up gay in regional Queensland, is a critically acclaimed bestseller that was turned into a sell-out hit stage production and is now being adapted for the screen.Shannon also contributes to various charity organisations, and founded the annual Clare Atkinson Memorial Scholarship for journalism at The University of Queensland.