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Robin Turner used her 20 years of teaching experience to delve into the assessment side of education. She scores various standardized tests given to students and teacher candidates. She shares her research with fellow educators. Robin is also the author of the book, They Dream in Darkness. Her life goal is to travel the world writing stories about the people she encounters.
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
If you were the protagonist, Anna, in They Dream in Darkness, you would wonder if you had been born with a sign on your forehead that says “Abuse Me.” They Dream in Darkness by Robin Turner will have you shaking your head in disbelief, not only at the events that unfold in this true story, but at how a family to whom God and religion are of utmost importance, and where the family head is a minister, can be so cruel and so far removed from the essence of Christianity and human kindness.
After being placed in the care of the Reverend and his wife while her birth mother battles cancer, Anna, an epileptic, becomes the Reverend’s sexual slave at only 7 years of age. This is just the beginning of a life filled with sexual and mental abuse by other men, her classmates, siblings, her foster mother, and even, down the way, by medical care-givers, once Anna herself, as a young adult, is hospitalized time and again for cancer. Along the way, she loses her own grown daughter, Natalie, to brain cancer, and is, on more than one occasion, the victim of attempted murder. You will come away from They Dream in Darkness wondering how there can be so much darkness in one person’s life. But what readers will take away even more is admiration for the woman, Anna, who survived all this, and never lost her own faith or belief in the goodness of God.
At the end of They Dream in Darkness, readers will discover the reason for what might initially have seemed to be somewhat disorganized writing in regards to the timeline of events. That reason will both surprise and delight readers, but no spoilers will be given here. They Dream in Darkness is a “must-read-it-yourself book,” an ideal true crime story for book clubs to discuss. To help with that possibility, the author, Robin Turner, has supplied a list of questions and topics. Discussion should be lively indeed!
