Title: Sins of the Father: How I Overcame the Effects of Incest – More or Less
Author: David Maresh
Publisher: selfpublishing.com
ISBN: 979-8896948254
Pages: 220
Genre: Nonfiction / Dissociative Disorders
Reviewer: Richard Hayes
Pacific Book Review
The mind is a fragile thing. It requires constant care, and is the source of a person’s memories, both good and bad. It also shapes the kind of person they will grow up to be, making their childhood years their most formative yet. The experiences of childhood and any tragedies or shocking revelations that may come of it shape a person later in life and leave damaging psychological impacts which can last a lifetime if not treated properly.
Abuse is one of the most heinous acts against a child, and in author David Maresh’s Sins of the Father: How I Overcame the Effects of Incest – More or Less, the author explores how that kind of abuse shaped his life and experiences later in life. Through powerful vignettes and anecdotes related to his childhood and growing up, the author explores the years of mistrust, fear of intimacy, alienation, and violence which defined his youth, and how his experience later in life with mental health and psychology helped shape the path of healing that he would need later.
Honest and compelling, the author does an incredible job of laying out the experiences of a lifetime in a way which felt visceral and yet vitally eye-opening. The way the author explored the nature of abuse and its impact on children and the adults they grew up to be was astonishing, sparing no details in recounting these childhood experiences and speaking truthfully on how they made the author feel in those moments. From never celebrating Christmas after a particularly traumatic experience to the complex relationship with his grandfather, and the lack of support found within his own family when facing the abuse he faced, each vignette gave insight without coming across as an educational textbook from a psychologist, but instead an open conversation between a man and the general readership.
Readers who enjoy nonfiction books and feel books that delve into psychological and mental health struggles in the wake of abuse and the impact that abuse can have on a person’s psyche will be thoroughly engaged with this book. The thing which the author really does well as the book progresses is showcases the cyclical nature of this kind of abuse, taking the time not to excuse the person responsible for hurting him in childhood, but instead delving into that person’s own history of abuse that they discovered later in life and coming to terms with how that affected the way they interacted with the author as a child. The depth of emotional and psychological struggle was balanced with the author’s wit and unflinching honesty, and the book told the author’s life story at an even pace that will keep readers invested as it progresses. Honest and deeply personal, it offers a powerful reminder that survival is only the beginning of the journey.
