Cirrus@Austlit

Told through the eyes of a lawyer, Stephen Roche, this is a compelling account of the most important sexual abuse civil trial in Australian history. It begins when a young girl's life is torn apart while attending a prestigious Anglican preparatory school, suffering repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her boarding master. After a complaint by a fellow classmate, the man is charged. On the day he is to appear in court, he commits suicide. For the next eleven years the school and Church deny the abuse ever occurred and it seems as if Lyndal's life will remain in ruins - her cries for help forever falling on deaf ears. It is not until she is twenty-one that her story is finally told in court, exposing the dark face of the Church and a shocking history of institutionalised denial and neglect. Lyndal's story evokes a feeling of anger, outrage and contempt for the powers that be and the landmark legal decision brings the highest office in the country to its knees and forever changes Australian attitudes towards abuse. (Ginninderra Press)