I read a thriller recently, "Behind Closed Doors" by BA Paris, and the plot is about a lonely woman who meets a handsome man who woos her and quickly marries her. He turns out to be a psychopath who imprisons her because he wants to torture her younger sister who has Downs Syndrome. He has chosen her to get to her sister, and because their parents have emigrated to New Zealand. It sounds dreadful, but it's cleverly written, and not too far off what I heard during my many years as a counselor in safehouses. The woman realizes she must kill him, after trying to escape many, many times. He is a lawyer for battered women, and seeing their injuries turns him on. She is never allowed to be alone. He locks her in a bare room when he's away. They occasionally socialize, but he's right beside her, and his punishments make saying anything impossible. She has no cell phone, wallet, money, id, passport, paper or pen. Ultimately, as the time nears when her sister will be 18 and released into their care, she concocts a plan that might work, and the reader is rooting for her, because the alternative is clearly her and her sister's deaths. A woman who has attempted to befriend her is able to help by giving her a lift to the airport, and in the end, it only takes one person to listen, believe and care.
There is an exhilerating sense that one woman, alone, can fight for her rights and her life. Even when all the cards are stacked against her. We have ingenuity and strength, and can figure out how to fight the bully.
Yes, I am making an analogy here. Never give up. Sometimes one person's action can turn the tide: Rosa Parks, Ghandhi, Gloria Steinem, Mahalia. Pick one action and model what you want the citizenry to do. Speak about it to all you meet. There is truth, and speaking it makes us not be victims.
I can't read books with violence against women just now. Maybe later!
ReplyDeleteA very well written book review and description! And analysis!
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