The Asylum
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Narrated by:
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Fiona McNeill
About this listen
For 46 years, Carol Minto has quietly gone about her life, carrying with her the most extraordinary and heartbreaking secrets.
Born into poverty and with mostly absent parents, Carol helped to raise her nine siblings. But when she was just 11 years old, her older brother began to sexually abuse her. After four years, Carol managed to escape - and ran away from home.
Picked up by social services, they place her at Aston Hall in Derby, a psychiatric hospital now infamous for the ghoulish ‘truth serum’ experiments it carried out on children. Over three years, Carol was stripped, sedated, assaulted and raped by Kenneth Milner, the doctor in charge.
Eventually she is released back into the community, aged 18, and has a daughter. But the baby is taken away for adoption, and Carol’s trauma intensifies. In 2010, Carol finally plucked up the courage to speak out about the abuse she suffered - and received justice, at last.
In The Asylum, Carol tells the full story of how she overcame unimaginable suffering, to find the happiness and solace she has today as a mother and grandmother.
©2021 Ann Cusack (P)2021 W F HowesYou may also enjoy...
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Very well done!’
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Good Narration, Terribly Depressing Story Arc
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Helpless
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Struggling to cope with three young children, Janie turns to experienced foster carer Cathy Glass. Helping the family each morning, Cathy soon uncovers how dangerous their situation has truly become. Riley and his two little siblings, Jayden and Lola, are not safe at home. With all three children in her care, will Cathy be able to rebuild their lives – and Janie’s?
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A solid entry in Cathy’s post-fostering career
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What listeners say about The Asylum
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Sara Froese
- 2022-12-17
Incredible story of survival
It’s unthinkable that the world can be so cruel to an innocent little girl. I was raped at the age of 12 by someone I looked up to and trusted also becoming a bed wetter for many years.
I was so encouraged by Carol’s strength and courage.
Thank you for sharing your heartbreaking incredible story.
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Tracy Struck
- 2023-12-18
Excellent yet heartbreaking true story
I found the narrator difficult to understand at times - although her accent was authentic to the story. Overall story was heartbreaking, and difficult, but a good read.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Amazon Customer
- 2023-02-02
Good story
Great story of survival. Was a bit hard to understand at times with the strong accent.
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Performance
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- Dalyce M.
- 2023-02-19
Applauding your courage
Thank you for having the courage to speak your truth about your abuse. I rally with you with a tincture of abuse similarities compared to your story. Hugs to you and your family from 🇨🇦 Canada. You are many Aston Hall patients hero! You gave many a voice that couldn’t do it themselves. Bless you!
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- Tammy Wheatley The Urban Chicks
- 2022-12-04
Awesome
The narrator was a little hard to listen to, but you get used to her style as it goes on. The story was unbelievable. I had no idea. It was a true story when I first started listening, but I couldn’t wait to finish it. Those poor, poor children it’s a real eye-opener to the power some people hold over others it’s horrific.
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Performance
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- J Brandon.
- 2022-06-11
Painful to listen to.
The struggle of a person with life torn apart, through no fault of her own. making do as best she can. I’ve listened to a few other accounts of survivors of Aston Hall and the like. I survived one version of such an institution myself. As always, the written word cannot convey the reality of such a situation. We try to read between the lines and form our own understanding, however inadequate. A quite gripping story, quite well narrated. I’d give narrator and writer a 4.5, if there was that option.
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Overall
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Story
- Rachel
- 2023-08-18
Heavy & Frustrating
The story itself was completely heart breaking and at times, numbingly gripping. Although I have endless empathy for the victims/survivors, the story felt a little disorganized. Certain chapters dragged on with similar information being shared, with no change in outcome or navigation. I wish there had been more explanation on why the siblings were rarely considered or worried about, when it came to the sexual abuse.. why the dad seemed so good/caring but then totally checked out. Guess there is never true closure in sad stories like this but it was definitely interesting. Unsure what the message was, except that abuse occurred and that no one deserved it.
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- Haiku_Queen
- 2022-11-30
Awful
I understand the horror of this… but listening to it as a story was ghastly. It came across as a large number of excuses for not presenting her truth to her aunt, or teachers, or storekeepers. It was mind-numbingly slow. I regret this purchase.
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