A New Beginning by Andrea Reid

This Book "A New Beginning" ..
is about the story of my childhood and what I had to endure growing up in a foreign country. It is about the trials and tribulations a small child had to suffer and never once complain about.
It contains a great deal of graphic details of things that were done to me and of the thought and emotions I had to go through. It contains my life story of when we reached the shores of Australia to the time I was 21 and was married. It will bring you to tears at times but I must tell you it left an indelible image on my psyche which I had to work through for years.
It is all true to the best of my abilities as I remember these things happening to me. I have changed names and left last name out or just used initials as I didn’t want to offend anyone who is still alive today.
Please read it with an open mind and heart and aloe me to show you what a child of society should never endure while they are innocent and growing up.

A New Beginning
By: Andrea Reid

Australian Buyers
http://www.booktopia.com.au/a-new-beginning/prod9781450022118.html

USA Buyers
http://www.xlibris.com.au/bookstore/bookdisplay.aspx?bookid=500020

EBook
http://www.amazon.com/A-New-Beginning-ebook/dp/B003CT30OE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A24IB90LPZJ0BS&s=digital-text&qid=1270603226&sr=1-1

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Goulburn Post Newspaper Article..

A LOT of people are told they should write the story of their life, but Goulburn woman Andrea Reid has taken this advice seriously and done it.
The book is called A New Beginning and it is about her experiences growing up in the Blue Mountains in the 1960s as the child of Dutch migrants.
Mrs. Reid's family came to Australia in 1959, answering the Australian Government's call for skilled migrants.
"Lots of them went to the Snowy Mountains Scheme but my father preferred the Blue Mountains and got a on the railways as an electrical engineer," she said.
The book cover her life from ages 3 to 21 and contains many detailed references to a time passed in Australia's (for better and worse), including many snippets of life and times in the Blue Mountains in that era.
But her childhood was a journey of pain and suffering.
Mrs. Reid said she suffered abuse within her own family and bullying at school because she was different.
"It seems like we were the only migrants at Lawson Public School," she said.
"I was bullied and it was totally ignored back then and often the teachers would single you out and blame you for starting things as well."
She said times were extremely tough at home as both of her parents became alcoholics and her mother suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia for many years.
As a child herself she was left to raise her brother and sister due to her parent's neglect.
"I remember starving for most of my childhood," she said.
"There was never enough food and I used to love going to friend's houses because I would often get fed there."
She left home as soon as she could to escape the abuse, and trained to be a nurse, but was raped and then fired from work. So began her life as a single mother until she met her husband.
Mrs Reid's predominant message throughout the book is that children should not have to endure suffering like she did as a child.
"Children are sensitive beings. We have a responsibility to them. We are ushers of life," Mrs Reid said.
"My life was one of twists and turns that no child should ever have experienced."
She said writing the book was cathartic and necessary.
"This book cleaned a lot of mental anguish from my childhood," she said.
"Writing the book gave me a purpose when my children left home and allowed me to clear all that stuff out."
Mrs Reid was a nurse for 25 years, until a back injury prevented her from working.
She originally came to Goulburn in 1986.
She plans to write another book and travel to Holland and visit her relatives at some point.
A New Beginning is self-published by Xlibris and is available from www.xilbris.com and www.amazon.com and www.booktopia.com.au


Caron’s Review:

'A New Beginning'
by Andrea Reid

Title: A New Beginning
Author: Andrea Reid
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
Review: Caron Casey

... 'A New Beginning' ... is a life story based on the early years of Author Andrea Reid. It is a journey that is not for the weak and the Author displays her strength throughout, sharing with her readers that no matter how hard some one pushes, you can still get up and dust yourself off if you believe.

This is the story based on a Childs struggle to be loved and accepted on Australian shores after migration from Holland into Australia during the late 1950's.

It is the story of courage and determination with a will to live for others and this is what kept this small, always hungry, thin and at times very ill child going.

Babies raising babies out of love. Did the system 'fail' this author when no nurse, doctor or other questioned a child bring a child to a hospital for a medical appointment? This is just one of the questions I asked myself after reading this outstanding recollection written by Reid. Parents that went to several Christian fellowship and Sunday school attendance...did the church also fail this child?

The love of this child at a very young age also extends to nature while experiencing 'friends of the magpie'. In addition, this child found herself with many acquaintances that were just not prepared to look beyond their own selfishness.

kids can be cruel...adults can be crueler especially if it's your own flesh and blood, a very abusive Pa and a schizophrenic Ma who cared more about television time....but this free spirited child never once complained about her ordeals of abuse on all levels... one thing that Reids abusers did not steal was her spirit.

The smell of a meat pie, the taste of Milo, soft toilet paper ... it's the finer things that makes Reid's passion for life so inspiring. Having to use newspaper to keep warm, so cold a child cries, abused for eating bread.... Yes, this story tares at your heart strings but you must not feel sorry as this is NOT what this author wants. Reid requires only an understanding and to heal oneself through reading. Peacing together the world and love for children one person at a time.

It was at high school during a school play where Reid discovered her passion for acting and acted for the audiences applaud and approval. It was at this same concert that the Author also discovered an appreciation for the stolen generation, questioning why her aboriginal friend had white parents.

In the early 1970’s the author was employed as an assistant nurse in the Blue Mountains, it was at this point that Reid experienced her first sighting of death. Even as a young adult Reid was still bullied at work by other staff including a wardsman. It wasn't long however before she lost her job and had to return home.

After an ordeal, Reid found herself pregnant and being faced with a forced choice that NO expecting mother should have to face, Adoption. At the last minute, however things took a twist. Was it the angels looking after her and her baby? Reid was married under varied circumstance and so A New Beginning was born....

It is no surprise that the Author has dedicated her story to ALL her children as an unconditional mother and spirit living inside a human body. This story is written for EVERYONE, the authors hands are reaching out in this story in an effect of helping others to heal ones own wounds by reading.....

.... 'A New Beginning' is the story of courage and determination that lives within us all.....

Caron Casey
Mother of 6 children & Law Student
Goulburn NSW
Australia


A New Beginning
By: Andrea Reid

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