Detailed and compelling reading

To Cry Inside, by Lesley Martin (Penguin):

We all know the story of Lesley Martin, the voluntary euthanasia campaigner who became a household name when she was jailed for the attempted murder of her terminally ill mother.

Martin has already written one book, To Die Like a Dog, and this one picks up where it left off.

It was that first book that lead to her arrest and subsequent jail term.

Her mother Joy Martin had terminal bowel cancer and was suffering a drawn-out and painful death. Given the task of administering morphine to her mother at home to alleviate her pain, one day she gave her a large enough dose to kill her.

The next day Joy Martin died.

This moving book, To Cry Inside, tells of her arrest, of the trial, how her family dealt with it and of her time in Arohata Women’s Prison.

The court case is covered in great detail but it is compelling reading.

No matter what your feelings on euthanasia, there’s no doubting that this is a tragic story.

I suppose none of us really know how we would react unless we were in the same situation ourselves.

And perhaps we should be thankful if we’ve never been down that road.

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