Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about pedophilia/paedophilia in literature, i.e. works of fiction/novels; autobiographies/biographies and other non-fiction works. For information on pedophilia and child sexual abuse in movies/films see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films and for plays, musicals, opera and songs see Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in the theatre.
Pedophilia, ephebophilia, romantic or sexual relations between adults and children, and child sexual abuse have been important themes of many books.
This article concentrates on the way sexual abuse of children by adults is described in literature, with a particular emphasis on fictional works.
Much of the literature describes criminal activity, though pedophilia (the condition of being sexually attracted to young children) is not necessarily a crime. There are examples of pedophiles who are attracted to children, but who never abuse and there are examples of men who fall in love or become obsessed with one specific child, but again do not abuse them.
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[edit] Man/boy
[edit] In fiction
Novels with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content, featuring a man and a pubescent or pre-pubescent boy include:
- 33 Snowfish, by Adam Rapp, written for young adults
- Orphan boy Custis has been sexually abused over a period of time by a vicious abuser, from the age of about 10 to 12, but has escaped at the start of the novel
- The Abomination by Paul Golding
- James Moore is first seduced at a 1950s Prep school by a master, Mr Wolfe, at age 9. From age 13 to 15 he is abused by his English public school music teacher Dr Fox
- All American Boy by William J Mann
- 14-year-old Wally Day is loved, and abused, by Zandy
- After losing his high school teaching job over an accusation of sexual abuse, a writer assumes a false identity and seduces another boy in France, 15-year-old Stéphane
- The Asbestos Diary by Casimir Dukahz
- Avoidance by Michael Lowenthal
- Jeremy becomes infatuated with Max, a 14-year-old at summer camp. When Max confides in him that he has been molested by the camp director, Jeremy realises just how close he came to actually committing the same crime
- The story of the abduction of 12-year-old Billy Neary by Barton Royal, a man who abducts, tortures and kills pubescent boys. Barton’s psychotic behaviour switches between extreme violence and interludes of self-delusion when he imagines that Billy could love him
- Bilal's Bread by Sulayman X
- Salim, now 26, has been raping his 16-year-old younger brother Bilal since he was 9 years old
- Boy O'Boy, by Brian Doyle, written for young adults
- 11-year-old Martin O’Boy and his friend Billy are molested by a church organist
- The Brothers Bishop by Bart Yates
- Simon is abused during summer school
- 8-year-old Jonathan Tierney is abducted by Lawrence Miller, a child molester acting for a child pornography movie-maker
- The Coming Storm by Paul Russell
- Tracy Parker has a love affair with Noah, a troubled 15-year-old student at a boys' prep school in upstate New York
- Il Conformista, The Conformist by Alberto Moravia
- Counterfeit Son by Elaine Marie Alphin, written for young adults
- Cameron Miller is aged 14. He has been sexually abused all his life by his father, a serial killer of more than 20 young boys
- Death in Venice, published originally in Germany as Der Tod in Venedig, by Thomas Mann
- Gustav von Aschenbach is obsessed with the young Tadzio and a sexual attraction is implied though never described. Von Aschenbach never even speaks to the boy though their eyes meet
- A timid professor is entangled in the schemes of a female dwarf, who uses his half-conscious desire for two young boys to manipulate him
- Dream Boy by Jim Grimsley
- Adolescent Nathan is sexually abused by his drunken father and it is clear that his mother knows, but does nothing. Nathan has a sexual relationship with Roy, an older boy who lives next door
- The Dream Life by Bo Huston
- A 33-year-old tutor Hollis goes off with Jed, a 14-year-old pupil
- Aphias Zhe (Fee) is aged 12 when he and other boys are molested by the choir director Big Eric Gorendt at their school in Maine
- Karl De Man, a 13-year-old pupil at an exclusive boys' school in 1970s South Africa falls in love with Dominic, a boy of his own age, whose parents know he is gay, and is abused by his choirmaster, Jacques Cilliers
- Enchanted Boy by Richie McMullen
- McMullen is molested in a cinema at the age of 8
- Fall from Grace by Andrew Greeley
- Abuse in the Catholic Church
- Flannelled Fool, an autobiographical novel by T. C. Worsley
- Worsley describes his fascination with a series of beautiful boys, but never abuses any of them
- Father of Lies by Brian Evenson
- The abuser is a lay provost from a religious sect
- For a Lost Soldier (Voor een verloren soldaat) by Rudi van Dantzig
- 12-year-old Jeroen has a sexual relationship with a Canadian soldier during World War II
- The Fourth of June by David Benedictus
- Frisk by Dennis Cooper
- A Good Start, Considering by Peter Ryde
- 11-year-old London orphan Alan Carey is put into a children's home near the end of the Second World War and is abused by Jacko, a sadistic member of staff
- Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott
- Theo is put into care aged 13 and brutally treated and sexually abused by Mr. Gracie, his caseworker, who protects him from other physical abuse
- Hey, Joe by Ben Neihart
- The main plot concerns a lawsuit, filed by a group of orphans, alleging sexual abuse against Rae Schipke, executive director of the charitable foundation that supports their orphanage
- 5-year-old Jeremiah is physically and sexually abused by his prostitute mother and raped by her trucker clients
- The Heavenly Cupid, Water Cherubs and other texts by Ralph Nicholas Chubb
- Hogg by Samuel R. Delany
- An Honorable Profession by John L'Heureux
- A High School boy in Boston who has been sodomised by a group of older students develops a crush on Miles Bannon, a popular English teacher. Miles fails to discourage it and this triggers accusations of child molestation when the boy commits suicide
- Michel seeks out young Arab boys and his wife Marceline helps procure them for him
- In Tall Cotton by Charles Hulse
- A 10/14-year-old boy's sexual adventures with other children and adult men
- Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks, written for young adults
- Jamie is abused by a caretaker at the trailer park where he lives.
- A Kind of Hush, an autobiographical novel by Richard Johnson, originally titled as Getting Even
- The Lantern Bearers by Ronald Frame
- 14-year-old treble Neil Pritchard sings for composer Euan Bone every afternoon. The relationship develops into one of mutual affection and some physical intimacy, but there is no suggestion that Bone abuses the boy. Many years later, Neil discovers than Bone had abused another young boy
- Little Chicago by Adam Rapp
- 11-year-old Blacky Brown is abused by his single mother's boyfriend
- Lord Dismiss Us by Michael Campbell
- Loving Sander by Joseph Geraci
- Will abuses 10-year-old Sander when staying with the boy and his mother Marijke
- Mac by John MacLean, written for young adults
- Mac is a 14-year-old schoolboy who is sexually assaulted by the school doctor during a routine examination
- The Man with Candy by Jack Olsen
- The Man Without a Face by Isabelle Holland, written for young adults
- Justin McLeod, jailed for killing a boy in a road accident, spends many hours with the troubled 12-year-old Chuck Norstadt. McLeod's homosexuality leads to false suspicion that he is abusing the boy.
- The Moralist by Rod Downey
- Red Rover mentors 12-year-old Jonathan and falls in love with him. He does not abuse the boy and describes how Jonathan’s family reacts to his relationship with their son
- Morning Star, Volume I of the novel sequences First Born of Egypt, by Simon Raven
- Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim
- Neil and Brian are molested by their Little League coach
- Dave is abducted by child molesters posing as police as he is playing on the street with his friends Sean and Jimmy. He is returned home days later. Years later, Jimmy's daughter is murdered, and he grows to suspect Dave
- The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
- Nobody's Son by Frank D. Keeling
- The Priestly Sins : A Novel by Andrew Greeley
- Abuse in the Catholic Church
- Queer by William S. Burroughs
- A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story by Anthony Godby Johnson
- A 13-year-old boy's story of how he confronts sexual abuse, AIDS, and finds a real family - published as a true story
- The Romance of a Choir Boy by John Gambril Nicholson
- Return to Innocence by Gary M. Frazier
- Sandel by Angus Stewart
- David Rogers is a 19-year-old Student when he falls in love, and abuses, 13-year-old Antony Sandel
- 'Sarah' is a 12-year-old boy dressed as a girl who is forced to be a prostitute
- Savage Justice, by Ron Handberg
- The Sex Offender by Matthew Stadler
- After abusing a twelve-year-old boy, a pedophile is subjected to abusive psychological experiments
- Shakespeare's Boy by Casimir Dukahz
- 13-year-old Ruy is a boy actor playing female roles like Juliet and is portrayed as a willing participant in his sexual adventures
- Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra
- Four boys are sent to a juvenile detention center where they are physically and sexually abused by four of the guards
- 10-year-old Marnus is devastated when he discovers that his Dad is abusing his best friend Frikkie. He spies his Dad sodomising Frikkie in the spare bedroom in the family home.
- A Son Called Gabriel by Damian McNicholl
- Gabriel starts to suspect that he is not like other boys during puberty, and enjoys a series of childhood sex games with Noel, a young male friend, and also his cousin Connor. Gabriel is later abused at school by a priest, Father Cornelius
- Song for a Raggy Boy, written by Patrick Galvin
- A true story of abuse by Catholic clergy in an Irish Reformatory School
- A science fiction novel
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice by François Augiéras
- An adolescent boy is sent to live with a 35-year-old priest, who becomes his teacher and spiritual mentor, but also abuses him physically and sexually
- Special Friendships, an autobiographical novel first published in France as Les amitiés particulières, by Roger Peyrefitte. Published in the USA as Secret Friendships
- Peyrefitte describes an intense, nonsexual, relationship between two French schoolboys and how this is destroyed by Father Lauzon, who is secretly also in love with the younger boy, Alexander Motier
- Teardrops on My Drum, an autobiographical novel, by Jack Robinson
- Terre Haute by Will Aitken
- Jared is abused by Julian Clay, the new curator of the local museum
- Tietam Brown by Mick Foley
- Time of our Darkness by Stephen Gray
- Touched by Scott Campbell
- Child molester Jerry Houseman is in love with 12-year-old Robbie and doesn't understand why the rest of the world can't accept that the boy loves him back
- The Treatment by Mo Hayder
- A husband and wife are found imprisoned and their young son, Rory, is missing
- The Tricky Part : One Boy's Fall from Trespass into Grace, an autobiographical novel, by Martin Moran, also published as The Tricky Part : A boy's story of sexual trespass, a man's journey to forgiveness
- 12-year-old Moran is abused by Bob Doyle at his new boys’ camp. The sexual relationship lasts till Moran is 15
- Unspeakable Acts by Jan Hollingsworth
- What Happened to Mr. Forster? by Gary W. Bargar
- Mr. Forster, a known homosexual, befriends 12-year-old Louis Lamb, but doesn’t do anything inappropriate with the boy
- When Jeff Comes Home by Catherine Atkins, written for young adults
- 13-year-old Jeff was kidnapped from a roadside rest stop, and spent two and a half years locked in a dark basement. He was physically and sexually abused and forced to have sex with Ray if he wanted to eat
- When Jonathan Died by Tony Duvert
- Serge is aged 8 when Jonathan starts to molest him and the abuse continues until Serge is 10 with the boy begins making sexual demands of his own
- Whipping Boy by Gabrielle Lord
- Livre d'Or des Textes Pédophiles: Des origines à nos jours by P. de Saintogne is an anthology of French literature with pedophile themes.
[edit] In non-fiction
Autobiographies, biographies or true stories with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content involving men and boys include:
- Agony in the Garden by John Van Der Zee
- Pedophile priests in the Catholic Church in California
- Altar Boy: A Story of Life After Abuse, by Andrew Madden
- Madden is molested by a priest, Father Ivan Payne
- An Inch from Murder: My Life As a Male Victim of Sexual Child Abuse by Nealus
- A Tragedy Waiting to Happen: The Chaotic Life of Brendan O'Donnell by Tony and J.J. Muggivan.
- Irish Murderer who was believed to have been molested by a priest.
- Autobiography of an Englishman by "Y"
- Beyond Closed Doors: Growing Beyond an Abused Childhood by John Andrews
- Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette
- Britten's Children by John Bridcut
- The composer Benjamin Britten's obsessional, yet innocent, relationships with young boys
- Maugham describes the night-time activities of pre-war paedophile Prep school masters
- Father's Touch by Donald D'Haene
- Book Twelve of the Greek Anthology
- Contains explicit poetry and epigrams on boy love
- Half The House: a memoir by Richard Hoffman
- Hoffman is abused by his coach when he is aged 10
- If it die by André Gide, published in France in 1902 as Si le grain ne meurt
- I Know My First Name Is Steven by Mike Echols
- The story of the abduction of 7-year-old Steven Stayner
- Krici Hlasem Zrady (They Are Shouting the Voice of Betrayal) by Vaclav Novak
- Chronicles the abuse of over 20 boys by a priest František Merta
- A Message from Heaven: The Life and Crimes of Father Seán Fortune by Alison O'Connor
- Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry
- Out of Bounds by Roy Simmons and Damon DiMarco
- Please, Daddy, No: A Boy Betrayed by Stuart Howarth
- The Quest For Corvo by A. J. A. Symons
- Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
- 12-year-old Burroughs is sent to live with his mother's psychiatrist Dr. Finch when his parents separate. Burroughs has an extended love affair, aged 13 to 15, with Neil Bookman, the 33-year-old adopted son of the psychiatrist
- Slayer of Innocence, a biography by Jim Conover
- A lengthy investigation into the abuse and murder of fourteen boys, aged from 7 to 14
- States of Desire: Travels in Gay America by Edmund White
- Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse, by Carolyn Lehman
- 10-year-old Jonathan is abused by his babysitter, Father Jim, a priest; Arturo, aged 10, is groomed and then raped by two men he met in the neighborhood; Tino is only 5 when he is abused by his grandmother
- The World, The Flesh and Myself by Michael Davidson
- Davidson describes how he sought out young boys and adolescents for sex in 1930s London
- Some Boys by Michael Davidson
- Davidson's follow up to The World, The Flesh and Myself
Books on Michael Jackson's relationships with boys include:
- All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-up by Raymond Chandler
- Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case by Diane Dimond
- Michael Jackson: The Man behind the Mask by Bob Jones and Stacy Brown
- Michael Jackson Was My Lover: The Secret Diary of Jordie Chandler by Victor M. Gutierrez
- Redemption: The Truth Behind the Michael Jackson Child Molestation Allegations by Geraldine Hughes
Other non-fictional works involving boys include:
- Boys and other monographs by photographer Will McBride
- Dares to Speak, a 1997 anthology of essays, interviews and other information on pedophilia and is sub-titled Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Boy-Love. It is edited by Joseph Geraci
- The Boy (published in the USA as The Beautiful Boy) is a photographic study of pre-pubertal, pubertal and adolescent boys, written by Germaine Greer
- The Boy, A Photographic Essay 1964
- Includes pictures from the 1960 film of Lord of the Flies[[1]]
- Coming of Age is a collection of photographs by Will McBride and contains an essay by Guy Davenport
- L'enfant Au Masculin, by Tony Duvert
[edit] Woman/boy
[edit] In fiction
Novels with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content featuring a woman and a boy include:
- Ekaterina by Donald Harington
- 27-year-old Ekaterina seduces three 12-year-old boys - Kenny, Jason and then Travis Coe
- 19-year-old Alice seduces a 12-year-old Matthew and describes the abuse in correspondence with a jailed pedophile
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- Until I Find You by John Irving
- Five-year-old Jack is sexually abused by the girls at school as well as by the teachers
[edit] In fiction
- 8-year-old Antwone Fisher is sexually abused by a female babysitter
[edit] Man/girl
[edit] In fiction
Novels with child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content featuring a man and a girl include:
- Abby, My Love by Hadley Irwin
- Any Bitter Thing : A Novel, by Monica Wood
- The Apprentice, by Lewis Libby
- Assumption of Guilt, by Harold Mehling
- Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison
- Beowulf's Children, by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle and Steven Barnes
- Linda Weyland is wed to Joe Sikes, a character "three times her age", and is pregnant by age fifteen.
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- Circle the Soul Softly, by Davida Wills Hurwin
- The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
- The Creep, by Susan Dodson, written for young adults.
- The End of Alice by A. M. Homes
- Danger Game, by Julie Lawson
- Dark Matter,by Michael Perkins
- Dream Children by A.N.Wilson
- Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
- Eyes of a Child, by Richard North Patterson
- False Allegations by Andrew Vachss
- Explores true and false child abuse allegations
- Far and Beyon, by Unity Dow
- Fifth Born : A Novel, by Zelda Lockhart
- Forged by Fire, by Sharon M. Draper, written for young adults
- Friction, by E. R. Frank
- Gerald's Game, by Stephen King
- Jessie was sexually abused by her father when she was aged ten
- The Golden Chariot, by Salwa Bakr
- Gillyflower, by Ellen Howard
- The Handless Maiden, by Loranne Brown
- I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, by Jacqueline Woodson, written for young adults
- In My Bedroom, by Donna Hill
- I Was a Teenage Fairy, by Francesca Lia Block
- Lena by Jacqueline Woodson, sequel to I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Lost Innocents, by Patricia MacDonald
- My Aunt Is a Pilot Whale by Anne Provoost, translated by Ria Bleumer
- No More Secrets by Nina J. Weinstein
- Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff
- One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Ken Kesey
- Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
- The Photographer's Sweethearts, by Diana Hartog
- The Polished Hoe, by Austin Clarke (winner of the 2003 Trillum Book Award, the 2003 Commonwealth Book prize for Best Book, and the 2002 Giller Prize)
- The Primrose Path, by Carol Matas
- Prisoner of Innocence by Donna Montegna
- Projection: A Novel of Terror and Redemption by Keith R. Ablow
- Promise not to tell, by Carolyn Polese, (the maiden name of Carolyn Lehman), written for young children
- The Queen of Peace Room, by Magie Dominic
- Riding a Blue Horse, by Carter Elliott
- Roger Fishbite,by Emily Prager
- Secret Lessons by Don W. Weber and Charles Bosworth Jr
- Secrets Not Meant To Be Kept by Gloria D Miklowitz
- Silver by Norma Fox Mazer
- Sin City - That Yellow Bastard by Frank MIller
- Small Pleasures: Mya's Story, by Darnishia Bolden
- Mya's grandfather takes a special interest in her. By the age of ten, he is so tempted by her development that he builds her a cherished doll house, lures her to the basement, then rapes her
- The Storm's Crossing, by Reanne S. Singer
- Telling, by Marilyn Reynolds,
- Treasure Box, by Orson Scott Card
- Rowena, an eleven-year-old witch, assumes the appearance of an adult woman through magic. Not knowing her true nature, Quentin, a thirty-five-year-old virgin, falls in love with her, has intercourse with her, and marries her.
- The Trouble With Wednesdays, by Laura Nathanson
- Wall of Darkness, by Judy Lea Koretsky
- When Rabbit Howls, by by Truddi Chase
- The Winds of Change, a Richard Jury story, by Martha Grimes
[edit] In non-fiction
Autobiographies or biographies with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content featuring a man and a girl include:
- 17 Days: The Katie Beers Story by Arthur Herzog
- A Girl's Life Online , by Katherine Tarbox, describing Internet grooming
- Casanova's Women: The Great Seducer and the Women He Loved by Judith Summers
- Casanova tries to seduce his own 10-year-old daughter
- The Death Of Narcissus by Francis Morris
- A survey of pedophile themes in pre-Lolita literature. It includes commentary on the pedophile content of letters written by author Charles Dodgson/Lewis Carroll
- Don't Ever Tell: Kathy's Story: A True Tale of a Childhood Destroyed by Neglect and Fear by Kathy O'Beirne
- O'Beirne's family have questioned the truthfulness of the her story of rape by priests and torture by her father
- Don't Tell Mummy: A True Story of the Ultimate Betrayal by Toni Maguire
- Toni is abused by her father from the age of 6 to 14, when he makes her pregnant
- A Girl Called Karen: A True Story of Sex Abuse and Resilience by Karen McConnell, Eileen Brand
- Karen is abused by both her father and stepfather
- The Hider's Story by Jacqueline Gordon
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
- Michelle Remembers by Dr. Lawrence Pazder and Michelle Smith
- A 'true' story of Satanic ritual abuse, exposed as fiction
- Ophelia speaks : adolescent girls write about their search for self, by Sara Shandler
- Stolen Innocence: Triumphing Over a Childhood Broken by Abuse is the published diary of Erin Merryn, detailing her experiences of childhood sexual abuse
- Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse, by Carolyn Lehman, a book written for teens and adults
- Tammy and her younger sister are abused by their stepfather over a number of years. They tell each other what's been going on when they are aged 15 and 14. Akaya is abused by her father from age 2 to 7, then again from the age of 12
- Where There Is Evil by Sandra Brown
- The story of the disappearance of 12-year-old Moira Anderson in 1957 and the involvement of Alex Gartshore, the author's father and a convicted pedophile, as a member of a pedophile ring
[edit] Woman/girl
[edit] In fiction
Novels with child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content featuring a woman and a girl include:
- Maryfield Academy, by Carla Tomaso
[edit] In non-fiction
Autobiographies or biographies with a child sexual abuse/pedophile theme or content featuring a woman and a girl include:
- Nap Time: The True Story of Sexual Abuse at a Suburban Day Care Center by Lisa Manshel
- Kelly Michaels was imprisoned for abusing very young children of both sexes, but eventually her convictions were all overturned
- The Step Child: A True Story by Donna Ford
- Donna Ford was abused by her step mother Helen between the ages of 5 and 11
- Strong at the Heart: How it feels to heal from sexual abuse, by Carolyn Lehman
- Sybil, by Flora Rheta Schreiber
- The story of the multiple personality disorder (Dissociative identity disorder) of the abused girl Shirley Ardell Mason
[edit] Further reading
- Gullette, Margaret Morganroth (1984). "The Exile of Adulthood: Pedophilia in the Midlife Novel," Novel: A Forum on Fiction, 17(3), 215-232.
