The Singing Warrior
Niamh Ni Bhroin
Summertime Publishing: £13.99
 
The Singing Warrior is a personal memoir and journey of self-discovery that is often shocking but never hopeless.
Author Niamh Ni Bhroin documents her life growing up in an Irish Catholic family in Dublin as the daughter of a doting but largely absent father, and her loving but ever-present and controlling mother.
She candidly recounts being sexually assaulted at nine years old by the father of a young friend and the ongoing physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of sadistic nuns in her convent school.
Everything is described with great clarity and you can’t help but imagine the anguish and pain she must have endured for years on end before moving to Europe and finally settling in Holland.
Sadly these kinds of abuse stories are all too familiar out of Ireland, but Ni Bhroin’s writing has such an upbeat feel to it that despite the depressing chain of events, you just know she’s going to triumph in the end.
Her positive thinking and emerging self-belief combined with her gift for story telling make The Singing Warrior a compelling read.
It’s more than just a memoir. It’s a message for anyone struggling to conquer life’s hurdles, that looking forward and not giving up will reward you in the end.
Niamh Ni Bhroin was clearly destined for great things and the obstacles she’s overcome make her subsequent hard-won happiness and success richly deserved.
Shelley Antscherl
books@dutchnews.nl
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