The Unbreakable Child

By: Kim Michele Richardson

Narrated by: Dara Brown

The Unbreakable Child, a story about forgiving the unforgivable, is a riveting journey inside the secretive underbelly of the St. Thomas / St. Vincent Orphan Asylum in rural Kentucky. It is the first book in the United States to confront the institutionalized physical and emotional abuse suffered by countless orphans at the hands of Catholic clergy over these last decades. It also documents the historic United States lawsuit and first-ever settlement paid by Roman Catholic nuns in the United States as recompense for decades of brutal institutional abuse of the author, her sisters and 42 other children.

©2012 Kim Michele Richardson (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

A must read

This isn't an easy book to listen to. the author 's pain is so hard to hear. How could anyone condone such cruel actions. How could anyone claim to be a Christian and treat children in such a way. May they burn in Hell.

so sad

the narrator was good. story was good,but so sad. can not imagine those poor girls mistreatment.

Well written true story

The author did a great job of keep ing the reader engaged in this true life account of daily abuse by Catholic Clergy at an orphanage in Kentucky, USA. incredibly tragic story.

wow

I can't understand how you could send your own children to ANY religious school. with ur past as proof religion is, always has been and will always be fake

life is usually hard but

This book is hard to think about. You think what happened to those Nuns to make them so mean to the children. orphans, may be the world should change this name. Find a loving name that would bring hope to them in the eyes of all. In this case " What's God got to do with this when it comes from the hand of humans.

Solid Read/listen

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I didn’t feel like there are a couple loose ends that were not explored such as the Visions that the little girl & her sister had while in the orphanage. Not sure why The author would have alluded to their psychic abilities without actually delving into it.
I also wish we got to experience the main character finally ending up in a forever family. The author even describe a friend from the time period, but again we didn’t get to find out more.

Needs a different narrator

The story is a powerful and tragic autobiography; however the narrator was poorly cast. I’ve never heard the author speak, but I would imagine that she has a Kentucky accent, which the narrator did not have. Regardless of her accent, the narration seemed unnatural, especially when narrating the thoughts/words of a young child. I thought about returning the book because the narration was distracting throughout, but it was a fascinating, albeit horrific, story that needed to be told.

St. Joseph Orphanage; Louisville

My Great Grandmother was there from 5 to 16, her younger sister “disappeared” when she was 7. Her disappearance was NOT explained! Josephine’s stories of ABUSE were Horrible! At 16 she left & became a Lutheran! I still remember listening to those stories! Thank You Kim! (Jane, Louisville)

A tough read

Kim Michele Richardson’s story of emotional, physical and sexual abuse as a child in a Catholic-run orphanage is hard to read because her experience was so extreme and torturous. But it is important that we keep our eyes open and do what we can to prevent anything like this from happening to other children in any setting. The village failed these children.
I hope Kim and her sisters eventually were able to go through counseling to help them deal with the post-traumatic stress they all experienced in one way or another. While it can be difficult and scary to deal with those memories, the process can be healing and liberating when given the chance.

Unbelievably forgiveness

I have great admiration for Kim Michelle Richardson for her strength in surviving such horrific abuse and writing about it. While it was difficult to read of all of the abuse she endured, she will probably never know in this life just how many people have been helped because of this book.