Your father is supposed to protect you, care for you, be there for you, and, above all, respect you. Meredith experienced the total opposite of what a father is supposed to stand for. Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess, is a book some people can relate to from experience; though, no one should experience this treatment from their father. Meredith loved, trusted, and looked up to her father. Imagine having the person you look up to and love turn out to be a monster in reality. Meredith never had a caring mother either, but her father shouldn’t have done what he did. Meredith is only 15 years old, yet seven years of her life were hell because of her father. Such a Pretty Girl is 212 pages of injustice, abuse, and pure horror of what a person is capable of doing.

Throughout the book Meredith is angry, not just at her father, but also at her mother’s ignorance. Andy, Meredith’s boyfriend, is another one of the five victims her father’s cruelty. Sharon, Meredith’s mother, is a walking representation of the saying, “Ignorance is a bliss.” Sharon is too ignorant to see the things her husband does, not just to other kids, but to their own child. Sharon viewed it as a mistake and goes far enough as to blame her daughter: “Your father made a mistake everybody makes mistakes, Meredith! Why did you have to ruin this family?” (Wiess 185). Charles was supposed to be in prison for nine years, but he was only in for three. Sharon and Charles have been together since they were 12 and 16, respectively. If this does not scream child molester at such a young age, then I don’t know what does.

The work of Laura Wiess in this particular piece was extraordinary. She not only captures the truth in crimes like these, but also shows how this can happen to anyone. Meredith was only seven when her father started molesting her. She didn’t know what he was doing was wrong, no seven year old would. Who in their right mind lets a child molester out of prison six years early, even after molesting seven kids including his daughter? Some people are too ignorant to see the truth as is the case with Sharon. While she lived out a fantasy that her family would be reunited after three years, her daughter was falling victim again to her own father. The fact that people like Sharon are walking about as if nothing happened is not fair. More people may fall victim because of people like Charles and Sharon.