I wrote A Small Boy Smiling in 2018 under the pseudonym, Matt Carey.
At the time I was still coming to terms with “going public” and admitting to friends & family that I’d been sexually abused as a child.
I was scared to share a secret that I’d kept to myself for decades. A secret based on shame, guilt and fear that was silently killing me and destroying my life.
As Maya Angelou says...There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
The response to my book - A Small Boy Smiling, has been overwhelmingly positive, healing, and very therapeutic, both for me, and I’m pleased to discover, for those who have chosen to read my story.
I am enormously grateful for all your support.
The next step in my healing is to “go public” in my real name.
In doing so, I feel free for the first time in my life.
Free to be me, and empowered to move forward with confidence.
My mission now is to encourage, enable and inspire other survivors of Child Sex Abuse.
I’ve therefore decided to use my real name and not a pseudonym any longer.
Please allow me to introduce myself…
Hello, I’m Andy Jeffery - my pen name is Matt Carey.
Pleased to meet you.
“A Small Boy Smiling powerfully illustrates the challenges survivors’ face overcoming the chronic shame and traumatising affects of sustained childhood sexual abuse. And how recovery is hard work, takes a long time and is ultimately worthwhile. A brave account and an inciteful read. ”
— Anonymous
A Small Boy Smiling
by Matt Carey
As a small boy Andy Jeffery loved to ride his bike, play football, and laugh with friends.
Andy was a happy child. He loved life and was always smiling.
When he was just eight years old, Andy was targeted by a group of predatory paedophiles who subjected him to 18-months of horrific sexual abuse.
He was too ashamed and scared to tell anyone what had happened...not his parents, friends or family.
In his new book, A Small Boy Smiling, Andy tells a remarkable story of survival and how he has overcome the trauma, guilt and shame of childhood sexual abuse, teenage alcoholism, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Andy’s lifelong search for peace, love and healing culminates in his personal spiritual awakening.
And a strong desire to help other survivors of child sex abuse to discover their own healing.
“Andy Jeffery’s Book , A Small Boy Smiling (written under his pen name Matt Carey) is very powerful. It’s difficult to think that a young boy had to go through such horrible trauma. It made me think of my situation when I was his age, that something similar happened to me. Reading the trauma he suffered has given me strength to know that he got through it and so did I. His story has given me hope”
— Andreas
“I carried a secret all my life. It nearly destroyed me. Going public set me free”
— Andy Jeffery
Jeremy Vine Show - BBC Radio 2
The Untold - BBC Radio 4
“A beautifully written, compelling and mesmerising story of triumph over evil and the strength of the human spirit...I couldn’t put it down.”
— Maddie Kitchen
How Can Andy Help you?
Andy:
Is an advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse
Runs educational workshops for professionals who work with survivors of child sexual abuse
