Review of The Lost Child

[Mandira Samanta]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Lost Child" by Charlie Blakely.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Lost Child is a self-help book by teacher and mental health worker Charlie Blakely. I was greatly influenced to select this book because its title matched Milk Raj Anand's famous short story, 'The Lost Child,' which brought back memories of high school.

Despite being a self-help book, it is written as a memoir where Charlie depicts her traumatic upbringing under the brutal control of her narcissistic mother. This book portrays Charlie's healing from Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) but it also shows the path of light to other victims to pave their way towards recovery. As she has undergone a long journey through anxiety, stress, suicidal tendencies and self-harming, she makes it clear that positivity, compassion and effort cannot alter a narcissist into a better person.

The author keeps her chapters short and pithy yet full of information. She provides and explains clearly numerous psychological terms to make her book easy to grasp. Apart from professional help, she advocates the need for self-care and self-realization. In the ultimate chapter, she mentions various websites, blogs, YouTube channels and self-help books to help her readers.

As a mental health worker of the UK National Health Service (NHS), she explicitly mentions Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprogramming (EMDR), Stockholm Syndrome, Fictitious Disorder Imposed on Other (FDIA). However, her regret for the narrow opportunity that NHS provides echoes throughout this book.

I appreciate the author's indomitable love towards life and how it kept her alive and led her towards healing despite all odds. Her genuine and clear narration helped me to discover certain traits of NPD within my parents and this realization revealed a new perspective into my thought process.

I have nothing to say against this amazing book. The book is praiseworthy with its flawless and professional editing. This book deserves a rating of 5 out of 5 stars because of its positivity which enables a victim to fight back and tread the path of recovery. I would love to recommend this book to the victims of abusive parents as they can find a ray of hope to continue their lives freely.

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The Lost Child
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