The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue

Oh my goodness I found this book nightmarish. What happened to two seemingly normal (if somewhat over-religious) people who got married, started a family and then, behind closed doors and in extreme secrecy, produced thirteen children and seemed to lose all grip on reality?I have seen YouTube clips of the Turpins on trial and they readily sob - seemingly genuinely sorry for the hell they put their children through, but to chain them to their beds, only allow them to bath once a year and feed them for most of the time on peanut butter sandwiches - whilst the father held down a pretty responsible job, and though neighbours were a bit suspicious, no one actually realised the truth of what was going on inside the house seems astonishing.Hearty congratulations to the daughter who finally had the courage to climb out of her bedroom window and blow the whistle, and one of the things that struck me about the story was how seemingly normal the children were when they were rescued, but nevertheless this is a very frightening story of what can happen when people slide under the radar.Very well written book and extremely compelling.

I only read bits of this book. As the cruelty inflicted on the children, by the mother was harsh. It was amazing how when the family came to the attention, of the authorities, nothing was done to help the children. Surely the dirty, unkempt clothes and strong body odour, would have set alarm bells ringing. Some children were walking skeletons, when they were finally rescued, years after their birth. The family were rarely seen by their neighbours. If they were, all children were silent.

Mind boggling story of child neglect and parental abuses. It is a sad indictment of how children can slip through the net as society chooses not to intrude despite their misgivings. Well written and researched I was engrossed and saddened from beginning to end. A small criticism would be the recurring focus on the parental motivations for the abuses, rather than the children's recovery in its aftermath. However, given how recent this case is the recovery of the children is still ongoing. Definitely worth a read if this is your area of interest.

Shocking story. Lots of missed opportunities to protect these children.Child protection is everyone's concern.Report child abuse if suspected. Then let the authorities investigate.Parents well dreadful shame on you both.Hope these young adults and children experence good therapy to begin to heal.Outraged poor children.Five stars. Also, raises awareness to report any signs of child abuse.Hope authorities have learnt lessons.

Book its self is very interesting. But the condition of the book looked like it had been wet and then dried out. Some pages stuck together but I could get them apart and able to read. It must have been like this before packaged as the packaging was fine. It was just the book it's sell.