Cry Salty Tears

(Paperback)

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Description

A heart rending account of one woman's survival in the face of unimaginable domestic violence Cry Salty Tears is the tale of a mother's survival and eventual triumph over almost unbelievable domestic hardship. Not only did Dinah O'Dowd face the harsh and unforgiving elements of her background - an upbringing in poverty-stricken 50s Dublin, teenage pregnancy and a lone journey to London, but she also fought like a tigress against the shadows cast across four decades of her life by the dark central figure of her existence, her psychotically abusive husband Gerry. Over the years Dinah suffered repeated physical assault, prolonged mental torture and destructive ignorance, yet successfully raised a family of six and nurtured the unique personality of a world superstar, her son Boy George. Finally she has reached equilibrium in the wake of the death of her husband, and is now ready to tell her story, striking a chord with women everywhere. Unflinchingly honest, heart-rending in the telling and packed with inconsolable tragedy and biting wit, Cry Salty Tears recounts the long and painful journey Dinah had to take. From the moment when she first set eyes on the charming, blue-eyed Gerry, to the first blow he struck when she was pregnant with their child, the suicide attempt that depression and all encompassing fear led her to and ultimately to her release from his psychotic clutches, Cry Salty Tears tells how, despite it all, this extraordinary woman could at last reclaim her life.

Reviews

Compelling...an awful sort of love story, a grim protrait of domestic abuse. It is emotionally articulate and raw -- Chrissey Isley * The Guardian *
Searing honesty, down-to-earth description and the authentic voice of a woman who has suffered and survived * The Irish Times *
An extremely harrowing account * You Magazine *
[Dinah's] catalogue of abuse is spine-chilling * Review, Irish Independent *
[A] courageous memoir * Irish Mail on Sunday *

Author Bio

Dinah O'Dowd was born and raised in Dublin. In 1959, at the age of 19, she escaped the suffocating atmosphere of Ireland, leaving her first born behind. It was at the pub she worked at in Woolwich that she met her future husband, Gerry O'Dowd. Over the years Dinah suffered repeated physical assault and prolonged mental torture, yet successfully bore and raised six children, one of whom became a world superstar - Boy George. In 2001 Dinah and Gerry finally divorced, after 42 years together. Dinah now lives alone in South East London.