- Paperback
- Publisher: Macmillan (8 May 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333749642
- ISBN-13: 978-0333749647
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 674,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Gitta Sereny pieces together the fractured life of Mary Bell, convicted of manslaughter when she was only eleven years old.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
Renowned journalist and biographer Gitta Sereny covered the Mary Bell case in the 1960s and wrote about it at the time. Mary, then eleven, was charged and subsequently convicted of the manslaughter of two younger boys. Now, following Mary's release on licence, and in collaboration with her, Sereny provides a thought-provoking biography of someone who was considered to have committed an evil crime of unparalleled horror. She brilliantly delves into the mind of this complex and damaged human being and reveals how little was done to investigate Mary's own troubled circumstances. A powerfully disturbing book, it will resonate with all who read it.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 68 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I, like countless others found the Bell case and the more recent Bulger case totally heinous. I formed the opinion that these 'evil' children deserved to be detained indefinitely, and that Mary never should have been allowed to have a child of her own.
I read this book purely out of curiosity, and I finished the book with a totally different judgement.
The author Gitta Sereny followed the initial case, attended the trial and wrote the book 'The case of Mary bell'. She wrote in a recent publication of her hopes of one day writing Mary's own account of the terrible tot murders in Newcastle in 1968.
Mary finally decided to talk to Gitta Sereny in 1995 and for a year, they collaborated to produce 'Cries Unheard'. At no point in the book does Mary attempt to excuse the terrible crimes she committed. The book concentrates on the painful suffering childhood Mary endured at the hands of her Mother, a prostitute who introduced Mary to the most horrendous kind of child abuse and how the legal system appallingly mismanaged her time in detention.
Gitta Sereny searches for reasons as to why certain children take the leap from being simply 'off the rails' to committing heinous crimes. Contrary to the judges opinion at Bell's trial that she was a monster and born evil, that all children are born good and pure and that childhood influences mainly parental can take a child to breaking point and commit crime.
After reading this book I think you will feel what I now feel towards Mary Bell, utter sadness and pity that social workers or the legal system did not intervene or become aware of Mary's disturbances. The saddest thing of all is that if they had been as vigilant as Gitta Sereny and probed a lot deeper into the reasons behind Mary's actions, the two little boys would have very likely been alive today.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sensitively written, well researched, story of Mary Bell, dubbed a 'child murderer' but clearly presented here as more sinned against than sinning. Her story should be compulsory reading for all who have to handle children in such circumstances, but especially by parents and police, social workers and journalists, and the general public before they rush to pass judgement. One of the best books I have ever read.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A thought provoking biography of what at the time was considered to be an evil crime of unparalleled horror. The author gets well into the mind of a particularly complex human being, something a lot of clever and obviously not so clever psychiatrists and social workers had tried to do during all her years in captivity. One finds it very hard to believe, even in the late 60's, that more background wasn't checked into and discovery made of how much influence Mary Bell's mother, Betty's upbringing had on her. Although Mary Bell does not for a very long period of the book come across as a particularly nice person, one wonders how any of us would have coped with so much mental and sexual abuse before the age of 11. The most worrying aspect of the book is the fact that even today, we have not progressed dramatically in how we deal with child offenders, as illustrated by the infamous Jamie Bulger case. Not easy, or should I say, not pleasant reading but essential if we are to learn anything from Mary Bell's case. Much praise should be given to Gitta Sereny for sticking with Mary for all these years and at least showing that no matter what we all thought at the time, Mary Bell was maybe not as evil as everybody thought.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cries unheard
I found this book to be very slow reading. I gave up half way through. Too much court room jargon. You need to have a degree in literature to reed it.
Published 8 months ago by shazzer
Very, very good
This story is very good and very compelling. I wish I was able to get in touch with Mary and tell her how sorry I am for the life she has led. Read more
Published 21 months ago by M. Taylor
No Escape from the Truth
Gitta lifts the lids on life's sewers and jumps into the swirling effluence. Emerging with a fistful of kohinoor diamonds, whether exploring child sexual perversity, Nazism or... Read more
Published on 23 April 2010 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
Brilliant!
I knew very little about the Mary Bell case until I read this book and what an eye opener it is, I really couldn't put it down. Read more
Published on 9 Jun 2008 by ReviewBlog51
I wanted someone to be there for mary bell..
which may put me in the minority, but the thought of an eleven year old girl standing trial for murder - alone - disturbed me. Read more
Published on 15 April 2008 by Leeds lass
Disturbing, Inside the mind of a child who kills
Mary Bell was an eleven year old child living in a poor district of Newcastle, when instead of playing with her dolls one day, decided to play with peoples lives. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2007 by KEN SCOTT author
Mary Bell's real father
Excellent book for many reasons. No matter what one's opinion is of Mary Bell, her sentence, her receiving money for the book, etc. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2007 by C. Palmer
Disturbing... how could it happen
Mary Bell was an eleven year old child living in a poor district of Newcastle, when instead of playing with her dolls one day, decided to play with peoples lives. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2007 by James Parker -Rothchilds
The story the public doesn't want to know...
I had to critically review this book for my degree. This was no chore. The book is open and incredibly honest. Read more
Published on 1 May 2003
A lesson to us all about how to reduce crime.
The furore that surrounded the publication of this book must have in part be due to the fact that it is likely to be used as salacious entertainment by the sort of sick people who... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 1999
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