As the Sycamore Grows, Jennie Miller Helderman
As the Sycamore Grows, Jennie Miller Helderman
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As the Sycamore Grows
A Hidden Cabin, the Bible and a .38

Author: Jennie Miller Helderman

Narrator: Kayla Higbee

Unabridged: 10 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/02/2023

Synopsis

Kirkus Review editors “Top 100 Small Press/Indie Books of 2023”A cabin behind a padlocked gate. No power. No phone. Only Revelation and a .38. A true story of abuse, loss, redemption, and hope that winds from south Texas to a sycamore tree in Tennessee.Mike escaped his father’s fists, but years later glimpsed himself in his father’s casket. Ginger named the sycamore tree for her son, Trent. It grew slowly like independence. This is Ginger’s story and Mike’s, yet it didn’t begin with them.Journalist Jennie Miller Helderman’s harrowing narrative takes the listener inside Ginger and Mike’s world. She interviewed both the abuse survivor, her abuser, family members, friends, and others who knew the couple.In this special, updated edition, Helderman revisits what has happened to Ginger in the interim and offers resources for those with violent partners. During Covid-19, cases escalated dramatically, because isolation from friends and family is one of the main tools in an abuser’s arsenal of weapons.

About Jennie Miller Helderman

Jennie Miller Helderman championed women’s and children’s issues from the grassroots to national levels. She helped add a forensics component to a children’s advocacy center; chaired the boards of a statewide advocacy organization and later Alabama’s Department of Human Resources. Helderman was presented with Alumnae Achievement Award in 2012, the highest honor given by Kappa Kappa Gamma, based on her work as an author and community leader. An Alabama native, Jennie is a resident of Atlanta.

About Kayla Higbee

Kayla Higbee is a Chicago based freelance voice actor represented by Big Mouth Talent. She has worked with ad agencies like gyro and Octane Rich Media and is a VO professional for MarchingOrder, a virtual ceremony and events company. As graduations have gone digital during the pandemic, she has become the voice of over 100 graduations for schools across the US.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Amanda on March 30, 2011

Ms. Helderman is a very talented writer. She makes you care for both parties while hating yourself for being at all sympathetic to an abusive husband.......more

Goodreads review by Chelsea on February 07, 2020

Could NOT put this down. Though it’s nonfiction, The book reads more like a fiction storyline and I had to continually remind myself that this was a TRUE story. Highly recommend.......more

Goodreads review by Janalyn, the blind reviewer on April 25, 2023

This is a book about abuse neglect isolation and the southern way of staying with your husband. When gingers husband Mike started his abuse the very first time she climbed out of the window and ran unfortunately his parents live next-door and although his dad Roy was very upset at her sons abuse he......more

Goodreads review by alex on June 11, 2023

incredibly well written, this book made me feel as if i was reading a fictional story - until i remembered that it was very, terrifyingly real. it examines an abusive relationship from multiple perspectives, which makes for a compelling, hard to put down read. i can't say i enjoyed reading it due to......more

Goodreads review by Gloria on January 24, 2024

Jennie Miller Helderman used an unusual approach to write this true story of an abusive relationship. While it had the usual fear, isolation, and dependency of one person being dominant over another, she researched the emotions and backgrounds of both parties involved. It helped to explain the “why”......more

Quotes

“Helderman has taken a heart-breaking issue and boiled it down to human beings, of flesh and blood and lost days and fearful nights.” Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize–winning author

“I applaud author Jennie Helderman’s gift for writing.” Jedwin Smith, two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee

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