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The Only Girl in the World
The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir | Maude Julien
The Only Girl in the World is an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Maude Juliens childhood was defined by the iron grip of her father, who was convinced his daughter was destined for great deeds. His plan began when he adopted Maudes mother and indoctrinated her with his esoteric ideals. Her mission was to give him a daughter as blonde as she was, and then to take charge of the childs education. That child was Maude, on whom her father conducted his outrageous experimentto raise the perfect super-human being. The three lived in an isolated mansion in northern France, where her father made her undergo endless horrifying endurance tests. Maude had to hold an electric fence without flinching. Her parents locked her in a cellar overnight and ordered her to sit still on a stool in the dark, contemplating death, while rats scurried at her feet. How did this girl, with her loveless and lonely childhood, emerge so unscathed, so full of the empathy that was absent in her childhood? How did she manage to escape? Maude was sustained by her love of nature and animals and her passion for literature. In writing this memoir, Maude Julien shows that it is possible to overcome severe trauma. She recounts her chilling and deeply moving story in a compelling and compassionate voice. Maude Julien works as a psychotherapist, specialising in mind and behavioural control, emotional manipulation and trauma, and conducts anthropological research among Indigenous Australians. She lives in Paris. Ursula Gauthier is a journalist at the French weekly magazine LObs and the author and co-author of many works. She lives in Paris. Adriana Hunter is the prize-winning translator of writers including Catherine Millet, Amelie Nothomb and Vronique Olmi. A living testimony of resilience...An account as gripping as it is inspiring. Elle Maude Julien delivers a staggering testimony, one that remains full of hope. Ouest France A serious subject: manipulation, in which the author is now a professional therapist. Maude Julien does not write with resentment, or bear grievances; rather she delivers a clear message of hope. Livreshebdo This story is never maudlinit is so absorbing that you have to remind yourself to breathe from time to time. Le Point Her book offers a ray of hope. Metro Belgique A fascinating and inspirational read. BookMooch A fantastic memoir that I recommend highly. Its a unique survivorship novel of what cults can do to children, but how the resilience of children can create positive outcomes. Cosy Dragon A harrowing yet achingly beautiful tale of a girl imprisoned by her brutal, fanatic family, but whose yearning for wonder and love ultimately drives her toward the improbable light of the world. This is a story of resilience unlike any I have ever read. Mira Bartk, author of The Memory Palace One of the most original and compelling stories Ive read. Maude Juliens love of books ignites an insatiable curiosity about the world outside the walls of the home where her parents hold her captive. A tale of hope and profound courage, Juliens story illustrates how trusting ourselves and following our hearts can save us from the most oppressive and cruel conditions. Her brave spirit shines as a bright reminder that what lies within us is stronger and more powerful than our circumstances. Ruth Wariner, author of The Sound of Gravel Harrowing, heartbreaking, and against-all-odds uplifting...Juliens voice is eloquent, composed, understated the facts of the story are devastating enough. They require no emotive embellishment. That she recounts these experiences in the present tense, however, gives the book a gripping and visceral immediacy...Maude Julien is genuinely a super human. Saturday Paper
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review
Crazycatlady1
Pickpick

If you want a book that will grip you from the first sentence to the last, this is the book for you. Maude, is an innocent child at the hands of two mentally unstable people. The abuse she endures and the losses she overcomes are both inspiring and heartbreaking. I really recommend this one.

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Expandingbookshelf
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Mehso-so

Maude‘s childhood was grim as her father attempted to mold her into the perfect “super-human” by making her hold an electric fence without flinching, locking her in the cellar at night, and making her bury her only friend, her dog. Somehow she managed to escape. This is a harrowing account of her childhood, but it abruptly ends as Maud makes her escape. I wanted more. This was a good book, but I feel like it ended way too soon.

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peacegypsy
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Pickpick

A heartbreaking, unbelievable memoir of many beyond horrific events. Thankfully, it is also a tale of the redemptive power of literature.

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francescareads
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Listening to this.

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Readaholics
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Pickpick

Wow! What a story of resiliency for Maude who shares her harrowing tale of growing up isolated in the french countryside with her delusional parents. She endured many cruel “test” derived from her father‘s paranoid POV. A true triumph of spirit story.

Cortg Sounds good! 6y
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Suet624
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A messed up memoir of isolation, brutality, and crazy parents. It‘s too much for me.

tpixie Hugs 🤗 6y
Suet624 @tpixie 💕💕 6y
huntersmom1977 Awww. Yea I understand how you feel. Reliving horrors from survivors point of view for the reader, can be just as horrifying . I‘ve read a few in the past. ❤️ 6y
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LeahBergen 😬😬 6y
Suet624 @huntersmom1977 I think I‘ve read too many of them recently. I am so mad at parents who isolate their children and do social experiments on them. 6y
huntersmom1977 I totally agree with you! No excuse 😔 6y
56 likes6 comments
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Reviewsbylola
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Today‘s library haul. The top two books were impulse grabs that I‘ve never seen before. They sound good though! The bottom right was my hold—I‘m curious to see if it‘s fantastic like her first book or a run of the mill thriller like her second. The other two are for my girls. I‘m hoping the sports book will pacify G until the new Rebel Girls book gets here. #libraryhaul

swishandflick I didn't think Let Me Lie was run of the mill at all, so good! Hope you love it too! 6y
Reviewsbylola @swishandflick what did you think of 6y
swishandflick @Reviewsbylola I liked it, but not as much as I Let You Go. I think for me, the creep factor for I See You was high when I was reading it on the subway and realizing how many habits I have during my commute routine. Makes you think about how you really don't know if there are people noticing you standing in the same spot around the same time every day, haha. But on the whole it felt more like a typical thriller, so the twists didn't shock me. (edited) 6y
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Reviewsbylola I think reading it on the subway would definitely add to the creep factor! I liked it but had it been the first book of Makintosh‘s I read, I‘m not sure I would have read more of her books. @swishandflick 6y
emilyhaldi 😄😄😄 6y
Cinfhen You got the new Mackintosh ~ share your thoughts!!! 6y
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ElleSkel
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“Three years later, age 59, Louis Didier liquidated his assets, bought a house near Cassel, between Lille and Dunkirk, and withdrew to live there with Janine in order to devote himself entirely to carrying out the project he devised back in 1936: to make his child a super human being. That child was me.”
This is a memoir.
How can I possibly read anything else now??? Looks like it‘s going to be a long night! #CrushngMyTBRList

Kaye Love your freckles. I had them as a kid and wish I still did. I think they‘re cute. Makes a person look younger. I figure if I had freckles, I could pass for 55 easy. 😁 6y
ElleSkel Thanks! @Kaye It took me about 30 years to own them. Now I wear them proudly! I call them my Morgan Freemans. 😆😆 I don‘t think they are helping me look any younger though! 6y
Kaye Yea, see there ? Morgan Freeman is quite a handsome fellow. His freckles give him added character. Be proud . Just think of a plain cupcake with frosting. Toss on some sprinkles and it looks so much more festive. 👍. Pardon the cake reference, but I have a strange fascination with 🎂 🎂 cake. 6y
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ElleSkel @Kaye mmmm 🍰 🎂 6y
AmyG Sprinkles make everything better. @Kaye @Elle_Skeldon And this book looks wild. 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks You‘re such a cutie pie!!! ☺️💕🤗 And I love Morgan 👏🏻👏🏻 6y
CouronneDhiver Your freckles are so pretty! 🙂 Totally jealous 6y
ElleSkel Thanks @CouronneDhiver ! That‘s so sweet! ☺️ 6y
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Rcoco
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Mehso-so

Fascinating...but strangely told. Maybe it‘s a coping mechanism on the author‘s part but her narration was oddly distant. Curious what others think.

wkm306 Had a very similar feeling. Not a good writer. Never thought it'd be a coping mechanism. 3y
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Rcoco
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How can these moments be recollected so clearly and accurately? Does anyone doubt them? She is a child young as four when the narrative begins.

tapgurl I definitely believed it. I can can remember significant things from when I was 4. Plus it continues on into her later years. Devastating childhood:( 5y
wkm306 I had doubts from the first page. 3y
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alli_spin
Pickpick

“As a little girl, I used to make a promise to myself and seal it with a prayer: ‘If I ever get out, I‘ll be in awe of everything I see. I pray that my father‘s voice will stay shut away in this house and won‘t follow me everywhere I go.‘”

Incredible read. A truly harrowing and heartbreaking story, at times very difficult to read, but ultimately so inspiring. The first-person present narration made it an unusual memoir reading experience.

Rcoco Reading this now 😲😵 6y
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alli_spin
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😠✊🏼

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alli_spin
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Alright. Let‘s finish this 😶

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Lauren_reading
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Just read this article about the author on npr - it looks so sad but so good. https://www.npr.org/2017/12/09/569241086/a-fathers-cruel-mission-to-create-the-o...

Bookmarkie I just got approved for an arc of this book. So excited! 6y
47 likes9 stack adds1 comment