The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue Kindle Edition

This book was only okay. There was a lot of repeated information. And the author isn’t the greatest with time orientation for the reader (like what year is it? Where in the timeline does this particular information fit?). I had to force myself to get through parts of it because it was kind of useless information. But I had never heard the story of the Turpin family, and I felt like the story was told very well.

Wasn’t prepared for the neglect these kids faced and how no agency or neighbor stepped up. If you suspect bad things are happening to kids, report it! What’s the worse that could happen? You could be wrong?Who cares. Error on the side of child advocate .

This book recounts the unbelievable case of a mother and father who imprisoned, tortured, and brain washed their 13 children for three decades.This case fascinated me from the beginning. How could any parent do what they did? It defies belief. Learning the history of the parents helps understand the abuse of the children. It could never excuse the parental neglect but it perhaps makes the parents a bit more sympathetic than their acts deserve.

It was a good book, pretty much the trial and interviews in print which I knew. The word emaciated being used so much was really my only complaint.(Repetitiveness)

Unlike John Glatt's other true crime books,they are no murdered victims but 13 children from 2 to 29 years old. The author does a good job in painting a picture of David and Louise's backgrounds and their family histories. Louise had it worse yes than David. While they both share blame for their children's abusive childhoods. I suspect Louise was more dominant in the household while her husband worked to support the growing family.The book covers David and Louise's lives to the present day. The book reveals Louise's sexual abuse with her maternal grandfather. David and Louise were responsible for their actions and the horrific abuse. The author is a well-known true crime author who has written many books.Teresa and Elizabeth blame their maternal grandfather who abused them as the root but they didn't chain up their children. Louise had dreams of grandeur but lived in the fantasyland. In my opinion, Louise seemed to be the more disturbed and dominant of the pair. David has his faults too. They both are equally guilty for allowing their children to live in filth and go unbathed for almost a year. More important, they starved their children to keep them from becoming stronger.The children's names and photographs aren't covered like they are in the press. They are in recovery now and hope to fulfill their dreams of a normal lives. Louise will likely never bear another child again. There were some information about their history and moving from Texas to California. Neighbors were never close enough to see the horror or smell the house odor. David and Louise's family were unaware of the horrors as well.

The story of the Turpin family is horrifying. The abuse they suffered at the hands of their parents was extreme. This was not parents on drugs neglecting their kids. This was calculated, pre-meditated, and evil. It is amazing that one of the daughters was able to find the strength within her to escape and call for help. It is also a testament to how humans can work through such extreme trauma (though it was very light on how the kids are doing now). The story of what they went through while growing up and after being rescued was excellent and told in a way that really drew me in. The problem is much of it was pretty much told twice, once in narrative form and once through quotes from court. This was completely unnecessary and just padded out the length of the book. I recommend this book to people who enjoy true crime. Just scan through the court hearing part as there is nothing new in that entire section.

This book about the abuse that the thirteen children of the Turpin family suffered at the hands of their parents is a ripped from the headlines story. It's unbelievable that anyone could treat their children like this but it happens again and again all over the world.This was an interesting compilation of the news reports about the Turpin family. There isn't much here that couldn't be found elsewhere but it is all well put together and an interesting book to read. It reports what happened but there are no answers to WHY it all happened. I also thought that there were too many quotes from psychiatrists who never met the family- how can a person be an expert on a family that they've never met. It is sad to think that no one called Child Protection about these children - not the school when the oldest daughter was going to school, not the neighbors and not the other family members. When it finally went to trial, David and Louise were given life sentences with a chance of parole in 25 years - so they are finally being punished for their sins.

Saw and heard this story in the news, but the detail this book describes. Explains more in detail why this individual’s were disturbed to do this awful thing to their children.

I only read bits of this book. As the cruelty inflicted on the children, by the mother was harsh. It was amazing how when the family came to the attention, of the authorities, nothing was done to help the children. Surely the dirty, unkempt clothes and strong body odour, would have set alarm bells ringing. Some children were walking skeletons, when they were finally rescued, years after their birth. The family were rarely seen by their neighbours. If they were, all children were silent.

Mind boggling story of child neglect and parental abuses. It is a sad indictment of how children can slip through the net as society chooses not to intrude despite their misgivings. Well written and researched I was engrossed and saddened from beginning to end. A small criticism would be the recurring focus on the parental motivations for the abuses, rather than the children's recovery in its aftermath. However, given how recent this case is the recovery of the children is still ongoing. Definitely worth a read if this is your area of interest.

Book its self is very interesting. But the condition of the book looked like it had been wet and then dried out. Some pages stuck together but I could get them apart and able to read. It must have been like this before packaged as the packaging was fine. It was just the book it's sell.

Not impressed told us nothing we didn't know maybe if written in 5 years might be better

Another great John Glatt, true crime book, as usual the book is wonderfully accurate, even if the story is horrific and will give you nightmares for the rest of your life! Highly recommend for all true crime fans.