An Extraordinary Life Podcast

In this episode Dr Scott Bolland and Dr. Tim Baker speak to Ella Richardson, the author behind the memoir "Cruel." Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gJZnnpK8 Ella's journey from childhood marked by abuse, to a life filled with hope and success is nothing short of inspirational. Please note - this episode discusses themes including child and animal abuse, so listener discretion is strongly advised. About the book, Cruel: A harrowing, yet inspiring true story of a young girl's abusive childhood. [Ella] endured emotional and physical cruelty and molestation at the hands of her mother and her drunken boyfriends. In an environment full of toxic emotions and violence, her survival depended on navigating daily, a safe passage through the basest of human behaviours. An absent, paedophilic father could not be trusted, and her older brother fled, as soon as he was able. Alone, in this domestic battlefield, she faced an unpredictable psychotic mother, regular beatings and torture, all against a backdrop of fear that she would be killed. But throughout she kept alive dreams of escaping. This book covers the early years of her life and is an affecting and inspirational book of the horrors of child abuse and the steadfast determination of one child to survive.