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A Very Private School

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A Very Private School

By: Charles Spencer
Narrated by: Charles Spencer
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About this listen

'Shocking and moving' Guardian

'Top marks for its searing frankness, framed in wistfully beautiful prose’ The Times

At eight years of age, Charles Spencer was sent away to one of England's most England's most exclusive boarding schools. Here he reveals the strange secrets of the school, and the culture of cruelty and abuse he experienced in his five years there as pupil.

Spencer reflects on the misery, hopelessness and abandonment he felt aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness and the vicious brutality of a boys' school in the 1970s. All these years later, Spencer's bafflement at the teachers' motivations to inflict such cruelty on young children in palpable. As is his fury that, even if somehow he had spoken up, he'd never have been believed.

Charles Spencer's book 'A Very Private School' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 11-03-2024.

©2024 Charles Spencer (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Best of 2024 Child Psychology Children's Studies Developmental Psychology Europe Great Britain Politics & Activism Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Royalty Social Sciences Heartfelt Inspiring

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I've enjoyed Charles Spencer's history books and bought this one because I know several boarding school survivors from the period this book is about.

Coming from a close loving working class family, Charles' childhood is anathema to me personally, however the story is remarkably similar to what went on in children's homes during those years to friends of mine. Being a mother and grandmother I can't conceive how anyone could send an eight year old child away to be brought up by strangers.

This is a difficult book to listen to but I did so in two sittings. It's a story that needs to be heard and heeded. It explains why we have some of the people in power that we do - stuck in childish emotional illiteracy, brought up by parents who'd gone through exactly the same thing, but still chose to put their own children through this hellish nightmare.

Harrowing.

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What a honour to listen to this story of honesty and integrity and strength and spoken in his own voice thank you

Outstanding

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A wonderfully brave and honest account of the harsh grisly truth delivered with precious vulnerability thank you

Honest, grisly, vulnerable and brave

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needed to be written , brought bk memories of my time in private school , luckily I wasn't a boarder

brilliant brilliant

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I bought this title after seeing the authors interview on tv. This is not a book I would normally be interested in but it complete delivered in every way and I found I could not stop listening once I started. A thoroughly enjoyable listen and the author reading it himself made it even more authentic and heartfelt. I would highly recommend it.

Interesting and intriguing in equal measure.

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This was a hard challenging book to listen to. My heart aches for those boys, for Charles, for the damage done. A very well written memoir, and brave too.

Thank you for writing

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Very well written, beautifully narrated, very informative and interesting from a modern history perspective, and absolutely heart wrenching memoir.
Charles Spencer has very bravely opened the way for others to tell of their experiences.
Thank you for that.
The police should really investigate the crimes raised in this book as some of the perpetrators are still alive.

Dicken’s “Dotheboys Hall”!

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I was weeping before he even got to this monstrous school. But beautifully written and to hear it in Charles Spencer’s own voice even more moving

A broken childhood - explains a lot about current establishment figures

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I loved it was read by Charles Spencer himself, a most interesting listen and will listen to this again, have added it to my favourites

The honesty

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enjoyed isn't the correct word, but I found myself having to keep listening. never experiencing anything like this in my own childhood I was shocked at how much pain suffering and humiliation a teacher/headmaste nanny, could inflict on boys who we're placed in their charge. I myself am now in my sixties and know to well the evil act adults do to others, but to perform such acts as these kinds on boys is profoundly evil. no wonder these boys adult years were affected.

compelling read

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