This is a work of exploration by the author of what has gone wrong with the relationships within his family. It is an in-depth stocktake of his family-based trauma. He considers in a holistic way what a family should be and takes that into account when describing his family as having turned into a tyrant-led dysfunctional family.

The main body of the work is the chronology of what the author had witnessed. The mother had very much used the children for her own purposes, and one of those was to conceal the significance of her being a lesbian. The failing marriage, for example, was continually misrepresented as being down to the father’s behaviour and the alleged stress caused by the author’s presence within the family.

A sister was sexually abused by a brother; but the mother — being afraid of a social services involvement — conspired to conceal the matter. The sister indeed had more serious emotional problems to contend with, compared to what the author had endured. But the author was, together with his father, made out as being to blame for the family being embarrassingly weird.

The flawed leadership and concealment of facts led to other children acting as an unruly mob and, as the mother aged, an offshoot tyranny arose.

The ramifications of the main narrative are discussed. For example, the author’s parents had ended up being buried together against his wishes. There are additional issues raised by the aggression that the author had been subjected to. An ability to understand how these aspects came to be has been a hard-won endeavour, and that has involved fitting jigsaw-puzzle pieces together.

There are some notes for others to consider if they feel that their own family experience has presented serious issues for them. There is also discussion of how and why outside expert help is essential in dealing with a trainwreck type of family situation, such as the author’s experience really seems to amount to.

A sequel to this work is currently being prepared. It will include more discussion of the ramifications and some enlargements upon the core chronology. It will be a yet more in-depth stocktake of the family-based trauma and the therapy work needed for a more enriched state of lifestyle adjustment.