The Letter

By: Sarah Sidebottom, Ann Cusack

Narrated by: Charlotte Worthing

Co-written by the writer of Sunday Times bestsellers The Asylum, The Convent, Silent Sisters and Abandoned

Harrowing emotional story of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of a father

Sarah Sidebottom was repeatedly raped by both her father and her brother as a child has secured justice thanks to a forgotten letter.

Sarah Sidebottom, 54, was raped and sexually abused by her father, Arthur William Bowditch, and her brother, Arthur Stephen Bowditch. They were jailed in 2022 for a total of 32 years.

The first attack, when she was just three and a half years old, left Sarah needing surgery to repair internal damage. A decades-old letter from her doctor proved crucial in securing a conviction for the abuse, which began almost 50 years go.

©2024 Ann Cusack and Sarah Sidebottom (P)2024 W. F. Howes Ltd

Thank you

Thank you so much for standing up to these monsters and for writing this book! You are so courageous! I love the narrator’s voice

Surviving

I love that the little girl in this woman found she could fight back. She is a hero and I truly admire her. The children she has saved she will never know but rest assured there are many. Your strength in telling your story is an inspiration to so many of us who have suffered sexual abuse. Mine was by a neighbor and later at 14 by several adult males who ganged raped me. It’s eye opening that I am not the only one who blames themselves. Thank you for showing me that I was just a kid and no matter what my brain tells me it really wasn’t my fault.

The Aftermath of Trauma

The book was very well written. While reading, I felt the hurt, frustration, and sadness, as if it were me experiencing all the emotions.

The most honest, well written memoir I've read to date!

Draws you in and doesn't let go! I pray for you Sarah, and wish you all the best in your life! One of the best, well written memoirs I've had the opportunity to hear. The narrator told this story so emotionally well, I was crying. It's always satisfying to me to read how victims work through their traumas come out victorious.

I spent most of the book aggravated at Sarah

The narrator of this title is good, I'll give the book that. However, that's where this end. Sarah is brutalized as a child and that is awful for her. I felt myself so sad for her. Then she grows up and that's where I find myself wanting to shake her. She is given multiple chances to do something about the abuse - to say something so others do not get hurt like she was, yet she lets her brother come back to her house and sleep on her couch where her little girls sleep just feet away and takes her daughters around her father multiple times! She broods and she tries to kill herself, but she won't do anything to help herself and also puts her own children in danger. She never speaks to her mother about the abuse then whines when her mom dies and she doesn't get closure. She gives countless chances to these people but then cries about it. She won't testify b/c the mother who KNEW all along died and "it doesn't feel right" to testify when her mom is dead. She is a victim, yes, but she never grows a set and does anything about it. I didn't like her or this book.