This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. At seventeen, Joy moved with her family to Queensland, where she spent over thirty years living on the Gold Coast.
Following in the footsteps of her father, published author and newspaper columnist, Joy realized her own talents as a writer with the debut of her memoir I'm Not Your "Baby": An Australian woman's tortured life of sexual harassment and assault.
Joy's hope is to encourage women being sexually harassed and/or assaulted to speak up and learn from her mistakes of remaining silent. Battling against not only males but fear, anxiety and depression as a result of her continued assaults, Joy offers her story to the world hoping to prompt women to fight for not only themselves, but for a shift in male attitudes and behaviours worldwide.
Joy currently resides in Ontario, Canada.
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
As someone who has spent a great deal of her life in Australia, I'm Not Your Baby took me by surprise. Fortunately for me and my daughters, none of us encountered Aussie males the likes of those the author, Joy Jennings, had the misfortune to meet. Looking at her website photos, Joy Jennings is probably about 30 years younger than I am and that might explain it i.e. perhaps the Aussie males' sense of entitlement has worsened over that time. Or it might just be the area in which she lived, for most of I'm Not Your Baby brings out men's baser instincts faster: the gorgeous Northern coast of Queensland, where beaches, babes in bikinis, and the party lifestyle is more pronounced.
What Joy Jennings tells us of her young to middle aged years in I'm Not Your Baby is a rather scathing indictment of Australian males. Their attitudes, at least those Joy encountered, are quite disgusting. Too many women worldwide have experienced sexual harassment and assault. Too many females know what it feels like to viewed as if they were a piece of meat. Joy Jennings drives those feelings home as she details being ogled, whistled at, propositioned, stalked and raged at, even nearly choked to death by males living in a constant state of hormone overload. Female readers will find themselves asking, as Joy does time and again, are there any decent men out there who truly appreciate women for more than their bodies?
The book trailer for I'm Not Your Baby states that this book should be read by males everywhere. Reviewers say the same, and I agree. But sadly, we know who will read I'm Not Your Baby. It will be women who pick up this book. It will be women who will feel, as Joy did, that even though she's not a knockout, that despite being well raised and not dressing to entice, men still can't keep their hands off women, especially if the woman is one like Joy who doesn't know how to stand up for herself. There were times I wanted to scream, "Don't just think that about the jerk; tell him!" But she didn't. And perhaps that's the reason other women who find men treating them as Joy was treated must read this book: when they do, they will recognize that inability to stand up for themselves in Joy's character and decide that has to stop, right here and now. Let's hope so.
The best part of I’m Not Your Baby, like any memoir about life’s struggles that is worth reading, is that Joy Jennings did eventually find that one good man she'd been searching for. Interestingly enough, he is a Canadian and she now lives in Canada. On a personal note, this makes me smile as I'm married to a wonderful Australian man and we live in Canada too. My point: there are lots of nice Australian men too. I was lucky to find one; ironically, so has one of my daughters! So, in summary, if I were to meet Joy Jennings today, I'd have to say I'm Not Your Baby probably applies to the experiences of many women in many countries and cultures, not just Australia. But what a sad reality that is. Thanks for spelling out the battles of far too many women, Joy Jennings. I know the courage that comes from finding out you’re not alone.
