A Very Private School
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A Very Private School
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Narrated by:
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Charles Spencer
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By:
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Charles Spencer
About this listen
THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Shocking and moving' Guardian
'A tour-de-force' Washington Post
At eight years of age, Charles Spencer was sent away to one of England’s most exclusive boarding schools.
In this courageous and beautifully written memoir, Spencer offers a clear-eyed, first-hand account of the strange secrets of the school, and the culture of cruelty and abuse he witnessed and experienced in his five years there as a pupil.
Drawing on the memories of many of his schoolboy contemporaries, as well as his own letters and diaries from the time, the book is his attempt to come to terms with the deep emotional scars inflicted upon him. Spencer reflects on the misery, hopelessness and abandonment he felt aged eight, viscerally describing the intense pain of homesickness, the vicious brutality of a boys’ school in the 1970s and the appalling inescapability of it all.
The book cracks the code of the unpoliced regime that ran the place and provides important insights into an antiquated boarding school system. He gives vivid portraits of the teachers and other staff placed in loco parentis, their casual cruelties and toxic obsessions. All these years later, Spencer’s bafflement at their motivations to inflict such cruelty on young children is palpable. As is his fury that, even if somehow he had spoken up, he’d never have been believed.
Charles Spencer's book 'A Very Private School' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 11-03-2024.
©2024 Charles Spencer (P)2024 HarperCollins PublishersCritic Reviews
'Top marks for its searing frankness, framed in wistfully beautiful prose’
The Times
‘Spencer is acutely observant of the myriad power imbalances at play within this imperial throwback. There has been a steady stream of books about boarding schools in recent years… but two things mark Spencer out from the crowd. First, he is by title and birth the ultimate establishment man, but he’s still prepared to take on the shibboleths of his class and upbringing. Second, his turn of phrase is often delightful. A painstaking and traumatic process, but one for which any reader must surely give a cheer'
Daily Telegraph
‘Moving… A heartbreaking memoir of a childhood endured at a boarding school ‘without love’, where abuse was shockingly commonplace’
Financial Times
‘This is a story with a clear remit: to confront the British school system with the abuses it has long enabled. There are many graphic details in this book but the allegations have the most impact when read here as a grander narrative about power and how it is abused. As an individual testimony to the abuse that scarred a lifetime and hobbled his marriages, it is a tour de force'
Washington Post
‘Moving and beautifully written, what Spencer’s courageous book reveals will be horribly familiar to the thousands of us who endured the same vile abuse in dozens of schools that were clones of each other. Most of us will go to our graves with the wounds unhealed'
Louis de Bernieres
'This is a powerful, unforgettable story of childhood trauma, and the dark secrets and savagery of the past, told with a searing honesty and clarity that is ultimately redemptive'
Justine Picardie
What listeners say about A Very Private School
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous
- 22-06-2024
An honest account
I feel for those poor boys who had to endure the monstrosity of almost all those in power at that school. This book must have taken a lot of courage to write. Thank you for writing it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 24-03-2024
Extraordinary
Such a frank account of a dreadful boarding school life. It is hard to believe this went on in schools so comparatively recently. Brilliantly written and narrated but a harrowing listen to be honest. Could have cried several times for those poor boys. Well done Charles Spencer.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 04-05-2024
Good to share
Well done Charles going against the English stiff upper lift way. I do hope this has been a cathartic experience for you.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Gerri A.
- 04-04-2024
Shocking
Almost brought me to tears. As a parent myself I’ve never understood sending children away to boarding school.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Josephine Staff
- 12-04-2024
Totally honest
A beautifully written honest account of the beastly experiences of boarding school students in the 70’s. Loved listening to it by the author himself Charles Spencer.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-08-2024
shocking, sad and tragic
Very well written and read by author. Heartbreaking to read the life long traumatic effect Maidwell has had on so many young boys that attended there 50 years ago.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Peonyrose
- 30-03-2024
Brilliant. Heartbreaking. Not to be missed.
Wow what an amazing account of tragedy in a bleak silent world full of no love, empathy or kindness. This book is brilliant because while we think these privileged people have wonderful lives they don’t. Earl Spencer’s vulnerability shines through his years of unimaginable pain of private schooling that broke boys psychologically and physically. Hopefully his is the last generation to experience this archaic system. Spencer I send you lots of teddy bears, hugs and much love.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-04-2024
Shocking.
What appalls me as much as the warped treatment these children were subjected to, is the collective upper class mind set that enabled it and which the author has exposed so well.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 20-03-2024
Insightful and tragic
A sad insight into the boarding school culture and its effect on a generation of young boys. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 22-03-2024
Shocking and brave , a story of survival
Charles Spencer narrates and has written an extraordinary story of his and others early schooldays. His thoughtfulness is commendable in regards to the experience of others but his own need to tell his story is hopefully going to inspire him to live a happier life. His family should be very proud of him.
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