There Came a Day (Hardback) by

As featured on Channel 5's drama documentary "The Child Snatcher: Manhunt"

“An extraordinary story of suffering, endurance and faith which reminds us that evil cannot outlast love” – Gail Walker, Belfast Telegraph

In 1981, just nine years old, Jennifer Cardy was abducted and murdered, her bicycle found standing where she had left it.

There followed dark days for the Cardy family, days of searching for their missing daughter, grieving her death, wrestling with the questions. It would be thirty years before they would find any answers; thirty years before her killer, Robert Black, would face any kind of justice.

Yet, incredibly, through it all the Cardy family found comfort in God. They discovered that God’s love is greater than even the worst tragedy that can befall us and can be our strength through even the darkest of days.

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Patricia Cardy has written a moving account of her tragedy. Anyone who has been the victim of extraordinary suffering can find encouragement by reading this. The kind of suffering Patricia describes does not come to most people, but it did to her. If you have been faced with severe suffering, or know someone who has, do read this book and pass it on.

-- R.T. Kendall, former pastor of Westminster Chapel, London, and author of over 50 books

Beautifully written, Patricia Cardy holds nothing back in this page-turner. She gives us her heart to hold for a while, and we can feel it beating... beating with love for her murdered child and remaining family, but also beating with an unshakeable trust in the Saviour she has found faithful in the worst of days.

-- Catherine Campbell, author of Broken Works Best and Journey with Me

Title

There Came a Day
Author(s)

Patricia Cardy
Series

10Biography
ISBN

9781913278441
Format

Hardback
Publisher

10Publishing
Topic

Suffering & Loss
Audience

Adults
Pages

256
Published

01/07/2021

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Patricia Cardy

Patricia Cardy found herself at the center of one of Northern Ireland’s greatest tragedies when her nine–year–old daughter was abducted and murdered. She is well–known for saying she feels no bitterness towards her daughter’s murderer and she was awarded the Belfast Telegraph Inspirational Woman of the Year in 2011.

See other titles by this author

Overall rating

5.0 based on 8 reviews

One of the most powerful autobiographies I’ve ever read.

“The murderer who destroyed our daughter will never destroy us or our family.” - Andrew Cardy

This isn’t as much a story about a murdered child, as it is about the tangible love of God felt by an inconsolable and broken mother 💔

Jennifer Cardy was only nine years old when she was abducted, abused, and murdered by Robert Black, a man who terrorised and killed little girls for over a decade.

“Death is a one-time thing. For our daughter, there came a day. Death, however, can take more lives. There are those, still alive, who also die. For Andrew and I, we both died that same death at the same hands of the same murderer.” - Pat

There followed dark days for the Cardy family, and it would be thirty years before Jennifer’s killer would face any justice for her death. Through it all, the Cardy family discovered that God’s love is greater than the worst tragedy that can befall us.

A scripture Pat held onto was, “God is near to the broken hearted, and saves the crushed in Spirit.” Pat shares her darkest moments with us, but she does so to show us where God entered in, where the light penetrated the seemingly impossible blackness and hopelessness, and how Jesus grieved with, comforted, and loved her through it all.

I will never forget this book. I will never forget Jennifer’s suffering, and I grieve at the new and deeper level of human depravity I am now awakened to. But, I’m in total awe of how God loves us and inhabits these brutal and broken places. Pat’s faith is truly beautiful to behold, her words express such deep pain and sorrow, yet such hope.

Friends, Jennifer’s story deserves to be heard. Pat’s faith will encourage you. God’s tender and personal presence in the Cardy family will leave you speechless and giving thanks that we have a God who gets down in the pit and grieves with us. While this is a hard book to read, I’m so glad I did. I hope that you’ll find it in you to read it to.

My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - this is one of the most powerful autobiographies I’ve ever read.

Renee @blossomingthroughbooks

There Came a Day

This proved to be an incredibly difficult read but one that I am thankful for. Patricia has shared her story of her most darkest days and shows that even in those times God can sustain us. As you turn the pages, this story shows God's hand of gentle strength and will be a blessing to your faith.

Andy

If a book about abduction and murder can be brilliant, this is it! Patricia Cardy is a skilled writer who draws the reader in. The book will bring you to tears, as it should do, but hopefully it will bring you to worshipping Jesus as Patricia points to the faithfulness and love of her Saviour throughout the book. Few of us will suffer like her and her family, but their story and trust in Jesus should teach us all as we experience the trials in our own lives. I highly recommend this book.

Rebecca Y

Not safe, but good. That’s how Aslan is described in C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, and it’s how this book should be described too. It is the heartbreaking account of the Cardy family’s ordeal when their nine year old daughter Jennifer was abducted and murdered in 1981, and how the Lord showed His compassion, justice and power in the thirty years that followed before her killer was convicted. Patricia Cardy, Jennifer’s mother, was a Christian long before her daughter’s tragic death, but hers is not a story of unshakeable faith against the odds. Pat doubted, struggled and wept as much as we would expect any parent to, but time and time again, the Lord met her in her pain and weakness and gave her comfort. Pat’s story is suffused with Scripture, as she was reminded time and time again of the timeless truths of God. Her experience of Jesus was very personal and intimate, but it was founded on the Biblical truths we can all reach for. And perhaps most movingly, Andrew, Jennifer’s father, comes to faith during their long and harrowing ordeal. If he can find faith in the midst of Satan’s most evil trial, then there is hope for anyone. I have to be honest, I opened this book with trepidation. Of all the spiritual challenges I may face, I knew that the one I most feared was losing my son. How on earth would I recognise my loving Saviour in such an awful experience? I was burying my head in the sand, but Pat Cardy had no such choice. She, and her family, had to live through this appalling event with eyes and hearts torn open. And my goodness, what a powerful testimony to our God it is, as He brought them through.

Miriam Montgomery

This book is a beautifully open and honest insight into the mind of a mother who has experienced the most tragic and heartbreaking event. Patricia Cardy shares with us her fears, sadness and hope throughout this book. It is also a challenge to pray in all circumstances, to know that God’s grace is sufficient and to open up your Bible when you want to know what He is saying to you. This book is not the easiest read but I would recommend it to everyone: it is truly an extraordinary testimony.

Asha Joseph

There Came a Day is a tremendously difficult book to read. It describes the heartache of losing a child, in horrific circumstances at the hands of a serial killer who evaded arrest for over a decade, and was only brought to earthly justice 30 years after the death of Jennifer Cardy. This book, 40 years after the abduction, demonstrates how God was at work, and is still at work, bringing people to salvation through this tragic event, including Jennifers own father Andy. I was born the year Jennifer was abducted and killed, and reading this book led me to consider the life of Jennifers little sister Victoria, who is the same age as me. I also have a child the same age as Jennifer when she was taken, so my heart broke for Pat and Andy as they suffered. This book beautifully shares the struggles of the family. It doesn’t sugar coat the heartache, but points to the one who has brought them through the last 40 years with hope and peace. It was hard to put down, and I finished it within 2 days. I would definitely recommend this book, but with the proviso that it talks about the crimes of the killer, albeit in a very sensitive way, but this may be something that would cause upset to some people.

Bethan Lycett

Pat Cardy testifies to a faithful God who has sustained her and her family over 40 years since the horrific death of her 9 year old daughter Jennifer. Her testimony is powerful, as can be seen just from these statements that she makes: “God will always meet us in the darkness of our own fear.” “Jesus never views our tears – He share them.” “His love never diminishes, His goodness never fades and His purpose is never thwarted” I commend this book to you as a testimony of the power and goodness of God to a family who have suffered much, but know that Father God is ever faithful.

Mike Morrison

This is the most dreadful, disturbing and harrowing story I’ve ever read. Yet at the same time it is full of hope, peace and joy in a quite remarkable, deep and personal way. I couldn’t put it down. I commend it to you.