THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Shocking and moving' Guardian
'A tour-de-force' Washington Post
At eight years of age, Charles Spencer was sent away to one of England’s most exclusive boarding schools.
In this courageous and beautifully written memoir, Spencer offers a clear-eyed, first-hand account of the strange secrets of the school, and the culture of cruelty and abuse he witnessed and experienced in his five years there as a pupil.
Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, the book is his attempt to come to terms with the deep emotional scars inflicted upon him. Spencer reflects on the misery, hopelessness and abandonment he felt aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness, the vicious brutality of a boys’ school in the 1970s and the appalling inescapability of it all.
The book cracks the code of the unpoliced regime that ran the place and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding school system. He gives vivid portraits of the teachers and other staff placed in loco parentis, their casual cruelties and toxic obsessions. All these years later, Spencer’s bafflement at their motivations to inflict such cruelty on young children is palpable. As is his fury that, even if somehow he had spoken up, he’d never have been believed.
Charles Spencer's book 'A Very Private School' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 11-03-2024.
Grace
2024-12-15
I cried! Cried because I’ve always known trauma, physical,- and emotional does not discriminate. A quote I vaguely recall reads something along the lines of: “I rather cry in a Ferrari than in a bus!” This quote has stuck with me due to how bizarre it truly is when you think about it & decipher it’s more deeper meaning, and that’s why I decided to include it in my review! I truly believe it’s upon time for the world at large to reconsider and revalue the view of those born into what is referred to high society or old money, that no money can buy us happiness nor can any amount of wealth bypass how deeply affected anyone would be, no matter one’s circumstances, from physical,- and emotional abuse, in particular from such an young age. The nature of the sadistic abuse depicted in this book by Charles Spencer is truly appalling, and moreover the fact that so many of his peers suffered from the same abuse makes my heart bleed, furthermore the fact that so many of his peers have suffered in silence for a good four decades is in my opinion proof of how a “culture” of silence was fostered and even worse encouraged and I want to emphasize that this culture wasn’t fostered and encouraged by only the so called high society, but rather by people who isn’t high society themselves, what I mean is that people who isn’t born into old money oftentimes appear to have certain prejudices about people from old money and their beliefs that these people have it so much better is all based upon nothingness, because they don’t know what they don’t know! This book haven’t opened my eyes to something new, I knew this existed, hence why I feel it’s appropriate to ask a rudimentary question to all people from all walks of life, “Just because a person was born into old money, does this exclude them from talking publicly about their experiences? Does their wealth make them invalid to be considered victims? My answer lays in the quote above, more specifically I’m of the belief that we’re in this world together for better or worse, and we need to be more caring towards each other no matter one’s background, which I think should go without saying, but I know it needs to be said in order to be understood! Thank you Charles Spencer for your courage and your willingness to share not only yours but also some of your peers struggles both when you were young and conditioned to be in an environment that clearly was abusive and unsafe, as well as sharing the aftermath after having lived in such conditions in your most formative years. I sincerely hope you will find the peace you deserve and writing this book has served you in the best of ways. Respectfully, Grace
Anonym
2024-12-11
En fantastisk författare som på ett både gripande och underhållande sätt skildrar en tragisk tillvaro på en internatskola i 1970-talets England. Boken återger smärtsamma minnen från en barndom präglad av rädsla, utsatthet och avvisning, men också en lojalitet mellan de unga skolpojkarna som endast kan uppstå under sådan press. Det är en otroligt välskriven berättelse om de svårigheter och det lidande dessa pojkar utsattes för – både genom skolpersonal, lärare och rektorer, men också genom sina egna föräldrar.
sandra
2024-07-10
Amazing heartbreaking and utterly sad reading. Forgiving is healing.
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