When Nancy Kilgore was nine years old, her eleven-year-old sister Sherry led her into the scorching midday sun, tied her to a chair, and taped her eyelids to her eyebrows with electrical tape, leaving Nancy helpless for hours to stare into a blinding blue sky. For years, Sherry physically tortured her younger sister and threatened to kill her if the cruelty was revealed.
GIRL IN THE WATER details the most shuttering examples of sibling abuse, the untold secret in millions of homes. According to a study by Gelles and Cornell. each year, 19 million children are bullied or abused by their siblings and well over 80 million adults have suffered this type of abuse.
With vivid imagery and heartbreaking accounts, Kilgore leads readers into the prison she was born into, where she is confronted with her childhood dreams, family bonds, coming of age in the shadow of terror, and the complex after-effects of abuse that followed her into adulthood.
GIRL IN THE WATER is the story of one woman, with a phoenix-like power, who came up against all odds and won. She will resonate with readers who were touched and awakened by the stories of Dave Pelzer in A CHILD CALLED "IT", Frank McCort in ANGELA'S ASHES, and Jeanette Walls in THE GLASS CASTLE.
