![]() ![]() ![]() But Sereny, who covered Bell’s trial in a 1972 book, The Case of Mary Bell, makes it clear that her purpose here is not to exonerate Bell, but to extrapolate the crucial warning signs that could prevent similar tragedies. When Cries Unheard: Why Children Kill came out in England last year, it incited angry public debate Sereny’s critics interpreted her even-toned narrative as an attempt to mitigate Bell’s crimes. From Sereny’s penetrating interviews - with relatives and prison authorities as well as the first ever with Bell, now a mother herself - we see the devastating effects of severe child abuse (which Bell suffered at the hands of her mother) and of an adult community - lawyers, teachers, psychologists - ill equipped to handle extremely disturbed children. She was tried as an adult and imprisoned for 12 years, in part due to her apparent lack of remorse. In the spring of 1968, the pretty, clever 11-year-old strangled two young boys, ages 3 and 4. Book excerpt: In December 1968 two girls who lived next door to each other - Mary, aged eleven. This book was released on with total page 352 pages. The recent spate of school killings has raised the excruciating question, Why do children murder? In this acutely insightful portrait of Mary Bell, England’s notorious ”bad seed,” journalist Gitta Sereny comes perhaps as close as one can get to the answer. Download or read book The Case Of Mary Bell written by Gitta Sereny and published by Random House. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |