aplace_inthesun's review against another edition
5.0
⚠️ This post discusses institutionalised sexual abuse. If you find any content triggering or need to talk to someone (in Australia call Lifeline 131144 or Kids Helpline 1800551800).
For many, there will be no right time to read a book about institutionalised sexual abuse. But this book has been on my radar for some time, as the subject matter is more than familiar to me in terms of professional exposure.
Full of historical detail, it’s an incredibly poignant read. It’s heartbreaking and emotive. And as it should be, when we talk about children and their families being betrayed by those in power and the representatives of the Almighty. Not only were these children and families betrayed by individuals but they were betrayed by the system in which they had Faith. The system failed to listen, failed to act, and failed to protect.
It is thanks to some brave individuals who are the subject of this book, two incredible friends since childhood, their supportive families, and a community who demanded answers from the almighty Catholic Church. The story is centred in the Hunter in New South Wales, Australia - though the issues, as stated in the book were mirrored in religious institutions around the globe.
It is recognised many changes have occurred in religious institutions since a Royal Commission, not just the Catholic Church. It remains work in progress. There are many who work hard to ensure this does not happen again. Many within the Church and outside who work to educate, empower, support, advocate and respond.
Thank you to Suzanne Smith, Brendan Fredericks PR and Harper Collins Australia for sending me this book to read.
For many, there will be no right time to read a book about institutionalised sexual abuse. But this book has been on my radar for some time, as the subject matter is more than familiar to me in terms of professional exposure.
Full of historical detail, it’s an incredibly poignant read. It’s heartbreaking and emotive. And as it should be, when we talk about children and their families being betrayed by those in power and the representatives of the Almighty. Not only were these children and families betrayed by individuals but they were betrayed by the system in which they had Faith. The system failed to listen, failed to act, and failed to protect.
It is thanks to some brave individuals who are the subject of this book, two incredible friends since childhood, their supportive families, and a community who demanded answers from the almighty Catholic Church. The story is centred in the Hunter in New South Wales, Australia - though the issues, as stated in the book were mirrored in religious institutions around the globe.
It is recognised many changes have occurred in religious institutions since a Royal Commission, not just the Catholic Church. It remains work in progress. There are many who work hard to ensure this does not happen again. Many within the Church and outside who work to educate, empower, support, advocate and respond.
Thank you to Suzanne Smith, Brendan Fredericks PR and Harper Collins Australia for sending me this book to read.
emilytrmn's review
4.0
The Altar Boys is a succinct account of the rampant sexual abuse and cover ups that proliferated the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic diocese, covering from about the 1950s to the early 2000s, written by a journalist who had already been covering the story when it became suddenly very personal. Suzanne Smith does a fantastic job at drawing all the different threads of the narrative together - perhaps it’s because much of the story is still unfolding, but I haven’t seen this examined in such depth before. However, it is very clear a journalist wrote this at times, with some odd chapter endings and the more emotive language sometimes sitting strangely among the more factual, informative paragraphs - it did feel a bit like reading an especially long longform article.
This is not an easy read and it spares no details (gut wrenching but never crossing the line to become tragedy porn). I would recommend it, especially if you grew up Catholic. It certainly made me reflect on my own relationships (and those of my family and teachers) with priests and the brothers/nuns and the school parishes growing up in the 2000s. It was sobering to properly realise that this was just one diocese and that if Suzanne Smith had followed where the stories led into others (Sydney was mentioned, as was Ballarat, and Western Australia), the size of the book probably would have been several volumes larger.
This is not an easy read and it spares no details (gut wrenching but never crossing the line to become tragedy porn). I would recommend it, especially if you grew up Catholic. It certainly made me reflect on my own relationships (and those of my family and teachers) with priests and the brothers/nuns and the school parishes growing up in the 2000s. It was sobering to properly realise that this was just one diocese and that if Suzanne Smith had followed where the stories led into others (Sydney was mentioned, as was Ballarat, and Western Australia), the size of the book probably would have been several volumes larger.
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