A Voice for Independent Authors
― E.A. BUCCHIANERI
REVIEWING TODAY: DON’T EXPECT ME TO CRY BY JANET BENTLEY
What makes truth so powerful, so compelling, so convincing … is its utter simplicity. One does not need to embellish truth. It stands alone. Janet Bentley’s lacerating memoir, Don’t Expect Me To Cry, is powerful, compelling, and devastatingly convincing, told with the simplicity of a child’s broken scream. She could never embellish the facts behind her near destruction, even if she tried. They are too raw to bear exaggeration. And she takes you back into her personal hell of childhood, daring you not to cry. If you do, she’ll leave you there. Such a past is not meant for weakness. She does not revisit such horrific scenes for drama. Or for sympathy. And it’s much too late to even hope for some compassion. What Janet Bentley does so very simply is make you bear witness to her truth. She may hope for good effects, but she’s really there just to shine the light.
Don’t Expect Me To Cry will shake your soul. But Janet Bentley needs you strong. She needs to show you how strength survives. It survives by bearing truth. And truth, once experienced, cannot be changed. It can only be owned. And maybe, hopefully, understood. Then, if you are strong, strong as a child, you may survive to find yourself transformed. At least you may find a life worth living. This is the message gifted by Ms. Bentley to anyone tortured by childhood abuse. The worst kind. Violent and sexual. And when you read to whom this simply devastating, exquisitely written book is dedicated … well, then, be prepared to cry.
DON’T EXPECT ME TO CRY
Joel R. Dennstedt – Top Reviewer for Readers’ Favorite
