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The Boy in the Cellar

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The Boy in the Cellar

By: Stephen Smith
Narrated by: Oliver J. Hembrough
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Stephen Smith is the boy who did not exist.

Born out of wedlock in the early 1960s, Steve's parents hid him away from the world by locking him in the cellar...for thirteen years.

Starved and beaten, the little boy's world was a darkened room that measured just eight feet by ten with a single makeshift bed, bare light bulb, and a solitary table. Steve would spend his days conjuring up an imaginary world full of monsters he would draw to try and block out the physical and mental torture inflicted on him by his brutal father. Apart from a few admissions to hospital as a result of his 'imprisonment', Steve remained in the coal cellar of the family home where he was deprived of daylight, his childhood, school, and human contact until he'd reached his teenage years.

Eventually, he escaped only to fall prey to the instigators of two of the worst cases of institutional abuse in the UK at Aston Hall hospital and St. William's Catholic School.

The Boy in the Cellar is a horrifying true story of torture and cruelty, that reveals a human's full capacity to fight for survival and search out happiness and hope. Abuse Child Abuse Dysfunctional Families Dysfunctional Relationships Parenting & Families Relationships True Crime Emotionally Gripping Exciting Heartfelt Inspiring Scary Funny Nonfiction True
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narrated very well ..this is a must listen!! ..it's vile what this boy went through sickening to the core but come out one hell of a fighter 💪

A heart wrenching story !

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I binge listened to this and firstly just want to say what an absolute brave individual Steve Smith is, to say he has gone through absolute hell more than once it’s a relief to know he finally has the life he deserves.
It’s so hard to believe that one small human being can be subject to such horror and still come through it thanks to his strength and and determination and desperation to see what was on the other side of his prison. Thank you for writing this bookIt must’ve took some real guts and unearthed the most awful of memories you are one incredible man.

What a man!!!

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I loved this book, it is shocking awe-inspiring and heartbreaking all in one. Incredible to know that I live in the same area and these things are real, my heart goes out to the incredible brighter bravery. Hope your life is so much more than you ever believed possible!

Incredible story with such honesty

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Such a gripping story.
You really feel for him and just want to reach into your headphones and pull him out of those awful situations.
Couldn't stop listening.

Amazing, couldn't stop listening.

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Where do you begin?
An absolutely gut wrenching life. I just wanted to go to that cellar and scoop steven up. How anyone can be so cruel especially to your own child is unfathomable.

I was raging at the dad, the mum, the psychiatrist social services and the rest of the monsters that made Steven's childhood so brutal.

I was so glad to hear that his life is now fulfilled and he's content.

Being an Iron Maiden fan I was chuffed he had done some art for them made him even more relatable. As a survivor of a traumatic childhood and victim of abuse I can empathise and totally relate to his philosophy that the abused can become survivors and NOT repeat the cycle. I was always overly protective of my family and my now adult children. When you know what ordinary people are capable of it makes you very nervous and anxious.

Thank you Steven for sharing your story I hope it was cathartic and you continue to blossom.

Beautifully narrated too.

' Up the irons'

what a life!

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