I’m finding it hard to start writing about this book. It’s an incredible story of a life transformed that makes me thankful for my calm and ‘normal’ upbringing and leaves me wondering if I would ever have the strength to overcome the harrowing upbringing that Gregory P. Smith endured.
I’m almost brought to tears when I think about how he was dropped off by his mum at an orphanage at ten years old, separated from his dear sisters, and immediately started suffering verbal and physical abuse at the hands of those who were supposed to care for him. It breaks my heart to think of that innocent child, not being told what was happening to him, and not having anyone to love or care for him. While the stay at the orphanage was to prove temporary, life at home with his alcoholic and abusive father was no better.
The hardest part of the story for me to come to terms with was the fact that this extremely intelligent and talented man was led to believe that not only did he have a low I.Q., but he was also a sociopath. His identity as a young man formed around this and led him to shun society to live in a rainforest in Northern New South Wales for ten years. By the end of this time, with psychological issues and malnourishment and being dangerously underweight, he emerged from the forest and made a decision.
Read the rest of this review on my blog: shereads