The Horse Girl (Paperback)

The astonishing true story of Beverli Rhodes, child victim of a sick, high-profile pedophilia ring and, years later, of the London Tube bombings, who rebuilt her life with the help of one very special animal—the horse. Horses saved Beverli Rhodes’s mind, and life. As a child, her world consisted of overlapping layers, in which sexually abusive men and her beautiful savior horses were distinguished only by levels of pain or joy. She survived to make a life for herself—only to suffer a second, devastating blow when she was caught up in the London Underground bombings of July 7, 2005, in which she was seriously injured. As a result of this traumatic experience, her fragile world became overrun with long-buried memories of her childhood, her waking hours haunted by flashbacks to agonizing experiences. Her years of child sex abuse had resulted in significant memory loss. Now vile memories came flooding back as a result of a severe blow to the head in the underground train. When the British healthcare system seemed to fail her, she sought other avenues to cope with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, her recovery directly resulting from contact with horses. Supported by her partner, she is now able to live a peaceful life, and continues to maintain her strong connection with the animals that helped to save her. Moving and at times horrific, The Horse Girl is an extraordinary story of hate redeemed by love, as well as a testament to the triumph of the human spirit over the most terrible adversity.