… “Up you get, Angie, it’s time for your smiling song.” Angie remembered the four chocolate hearts wrapped in gold paper. One for each line. Her patent leather shoes squeaked as she stood to her feet.

… Tender years spun into oblivion, trapped, voiceless. Fear wiped its seal on the lid. Apart from a few cheerful times, Angie’s childhood memories between three and eight years blurred into a patchwork of photographs and hand-me-down stories, nightmares and wet beds.

Someone’s child is crying now
Hot tears trapped in a secret well
Where fears and shadows mute the tongue
No voice to speak, no words to yell

Someone’s child is hurting now
Sweet innocence pushed in a heap
And lust and greed will have their way
While evil plays, wrapped in a treat

Someone’s child is trembling now
Sad tears pushed back from smarting cheeks
Brave eyelids pull the blind on hurt
The snare is set, and silence speaks

… It was a day like no other; a defining day. Time slowed as the toxic mix of traumas twirled before strangers – an ugly, too-bright thing. Then they’d had enough. The judge looked up and made his final speech. And it was over.

Flower Girl is based on a true story and has a three-fold purpose:
to release abuse victims, enlighten parents and shout to the world the ugly messages pushed into secret places – messages which choke the soul and silence truth. Flower Girl, sub-titled Who’s watching our children? is suitable for teenagers and adults.

Flower Girl tells the story of Angela Kathleen Monaldi, a young girl who was sexually abused over six years by a trusted family friend whilst in the ‘safety’ of her grandparents’ home and in near vicinity to her unsuspecting parents. This was an era of hushing-up such violations in order to protect the family, but suppressed childhood trauma has a way of revisiting. Within these pages you are invited to look into the dark void that innocent children face alone – where fears and shadows mute the tongue. Flower Girl speaks for the legion of victims unable to voice their secret tragedy. It shines a candle of hope in great darkness. Follow Angela’s journey of release from the past which leads to a clear pathway for her future. With the rising incidence of reported child sexual abuse, the question must be asked - Who’s watching our children?

Why did I write Flower Girl? My prime purpose in writing Flower Girl was to attempt to make a positive difference in the understanding of child sexual abuse. I don’t claim to be a psychologist but having experienced such abuse and having received professional help, particularly in the very early days, I wanted to share my journey and the survival skills that helped me (professional, parental and faith). Flower Girl removes the mask, so the reader can view close-up the trauma which lingers and revisits at pivotal milestones in life. How to cope with the manifestation of such trauma becomes paramount to survival.

Over recent years I have experienced a constant gnawing to share my story; to trace life’s journey from deep childhood trauma, surviving periodic dark episodes and remnant issues through to a sense of liberation and peace. Flower Girl has been written with great passion yoked with a sensitivity born of travelling one of life’s ugly pathways. A tough subject – brought into the light with the hope that some might find balm for their soul-wounds and parents/carers might sharpen their powers of observation, but more importantly, that hurting children caught in the web of their oppressors’ deceit will find their voice.

As an aid to readers requiring assistance, I include the following counselling contact:
Exceptional Counselling and Psychology Services can be contacted by selecting the link to MERRYLANDS COUNSELLING, Colleen  Hirst & Associates here or on the Contact Links Page of this website. Colleen Hirst is known to me personally and I can highly recommend her to anyone seeking professional help.

Click on the logo above to listen to the Flower Girl radio interview on Hope 103.2 with Aaron Wright

WHERE CAN YOU PURCHASE FLOWER GIRL?

Flower Girl is available from selected Angus and Robertson bookstores and Koorong Books. The ISBN is 978-0-9751281-1-4. If you have trouble sourcing the book, please email me and I will post you a copy at AU$18.95 plus postage. (Price for multiple copies by negotiation.) Multiple copies may be purchased at a cheaper rate by contacting the author. Flower Girl will also be available at clubs such as Probus, Lions, Rotary and Women’s Groups when I visit as guest speaker.

A voice for children	Truth gets an airing

Bookmarks for the occasion	… like flowers that grow in fairyland

The prominent yellow pansies	Getting ready for book signing

Winston (94) gives a father’s perspective	Chocolate hearts and jelly beans – Elise and Abbey