Isabella Rose's childhood abuse by her mother who claimed to be a wtich. Starting just before and during WW2.
On my Third birthday my Mummy smiled at me. “Hold out your hand - I have a present for you.”
Eagerly, I opened my right hand. Grabbing hold of my fingers, Mummy produced a knife from behind her back and deliberately slashed my thumb to the bone. I screamed with pain. What had I done to make my mummy hate me so much?
At the sight of blood running down my fingers, she laughed. “I’ve let you live quite long enough. I’m going to kill you with this knife. – Your birthday present is: ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts.’”
One cut was more than enough. Absolutely terrified I flinched away from the glittering blade – now smeared with my blood. I ran to the top of the stairs, sucking hard on my poorly thumb to ease the pain. I knew she really meant for me to die.
Daddy’s Little Spy is already in print with a small publisher. Donations go to Marie Curie Nurses and the East Anglia Children's Hospice.
In Northamptonshire local social history reference libraries.