a Dark Voice from Sylvan

A Dark Voice From a Sylvan is the memoir of a woman who survived incest, child exploitation, and years of silence.Raised in a Catholic family of ten children in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Amy Maureen Murphy recounts a childhood marked by abuse that she says began within her own home. In Book One, she tells the story of growing up as a victim of incest and the devastating emotional, psychological, andspiritual it had on her life.In Book Two, Amy describes what she says was a hidden network of adults in southwest Michigan during the 1970's to whom she was repeatedly taken and exploited by her father. Her account portrays a world concealed behindordinary neighborhoods and familiar faces - a world she believes remained hidden because fear, shame, and silence protected those responsible.The title carries a deeply personal meaning. A sylvan is one who dwells among groves or woods, but Sylvan was also the name of the street where Amy spent her childhood in Grand Rapids. The "dark voice" is the voice she was unableto use for decades - the voice of a child who survived by remaining silent.This memoir is not written to shock. It is written to bear witness.Never could Amy Maureen Murphy have imagined saying these words aloud:I am a survivor of incest and childhood exploitation. This book is her voice - and an invitation for others to find their own.