My House of Lies: Awakening from a Childhood of Sexual Abuse

As a young child, I was told that I was special by my father, but this kind of special had to be kept a secret. I could not tell anybody about “Daddy’s special love.” Now I understood why my mother’s praise was intolerable. If she knew about his special love, she would hate me. His sinister smile, along with a finger to his mouth silently shushing me was ever present.