Nicholas Sparks (2010) Safe Haven. London, Little Brown. 978-0-7515-4852-5

 

The story is one of a woman having fled an abusive marriage and establishing a new life with a new identity, all the time knowing that her husband might track her down.
 
[Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence]
[Spoiler alert]
 
The story is set in the present, with the main character looking back and reflecting on the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband and constantly looking over her shoulder for any indication that he might have caught up with her. As she gradually begins to feel safe a relationship develops with a local widower and his young children
 
The story is told from two points of view – that of the main character and that of her increasingly deranged ex-husband – until the inevitable happens and he tracks her down leading to a violent, but ultimately “happy”, ending for the main character and her new life.
 
The book has a number of stereotypes, not least that of the police detective as the husband, and the main character having been brought up in a household where she witnessed violence and abuse. The domestic abuse is extreme, both in the elements of control, the violence and the way in which the abuser tracks down his wife.
 
There is a plot twist at the end where the woman the main character portrays is revealed as the ghost her new partners dead wife, guiding her in their relationship.
 
The book was made into a film – billed as a “romantic drama fantasy thriller” starring Julianne Hough as the main character and David Lyons as the abuser. The reviews were, on the whole, negative, described as "schmaltzy, predictable, and melodramatic”. The plot twist particularly came in for a considerable amount of negative criticism.

Carla Stewart (2011) Broken Wings New York, Faith Works. 978-0-446-55656-9

 

This book follows the stories of two women whose lives coincide at a hospital. One woman is volunteering to fill the time between visits to her husband who has Alzheimer’s and now lives in a care facility; the other a wife with injuries that seem inconsistent with the explanation she gives.

[Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence]

[Spoiler alert]

The story goes on to relate the developing relationship between Mitzi and Brooke until Brooke feels able to confide in her and eventually leave her abusive husband, a prominent lawyer and candidate for District Attorney. She stays with Mitzi, unravels some of her childhood relationships and falls in love with the son of Mitzi and Gabe’s former music act manager.

The publisher gives a clue to the background to the novel, which is framed from a perspective of characters practising a Christian faith. Stewart’s profile states that her “writing reflects her passion for times gone by, cherished relationships and the mystery of God…”

The younger female character experiences two very violent attacks from her husband. The first he splits open her cheek, requiring stitches and leaving permanent scarring and the second where he damages her shoulder. As first-off violent episodes these seem a little unrealistic and although the hospital staff are sceptical about her explanation, they don’t follow these up. This is not the only unbelievable element of the book.

The storyline includes some elements of control and stalking. Although the husband has a stereotypical high-flying job, the female character does have a career of her own as a paralegal, albeit that once free from family expectations, she considers an alternative path. It was also good to see a strong female lead who leaves and remains resolute in her decision throughout.

In the Acknowledgements, Carla Stewart begins by stating that she “…beagn writing […] and chose domestic abuse and Alzheimer’s as the events to connect [her] characters” (my italics). For the first time I felt resentful of an author “choosing” such a topic without knowledge and, it would seem, only the most rudimentary of research. She does say she has seen it happen to someone else, but has more direct experience of Alzheimer’s in her husband’s family.

 

“There was a lot of optimism in the air throughout the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, an unshakeable conviction that history was moving forward, moving fast, and progress was simply inevitable”

Elif Shafak (2020) How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division London, Profile Books p83 

B A Paris (2016) Behind Closed Doors. London, HarperCollins. 978-1-84845-412-5

 

This is an interesting book as it is almost entirely about coercive control rather than physical violence - but taken to the extreme.

[Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence]

[Spoiler alert].

The novel narrates the relationship between Jack and Grace which appears perfect on the outside, but Jack is a cruel, obsessively controlling husband looking to incarcerate Grace’s sister Millie who has Down’s Syndrome.

There is no doubt from the start that this is an abusive relationship as that is suggested a revealed from the first paragraph. The tension in the narrative is how Grace is going to escape and prevent Jack torturing herself and Millie for his own gratification.

The relationship contains many of the aspects of an abusive relationship: a very charming perpetrator, the “victim” being swept of her (in this case) feet; a quick engagement and marriage after only a few months; the perpetrator isolating the victim from family and friends, for example. Where this book is outstanding is the lengths to which the perpetrator will go and the extremes of punishment and control. The perpetrator works as a celebrated barrister defending battered women and has never lost a case.

Although there are many stereotypes in the book, it would read as if these have been deliberately chosen and exaggerated. There is very little direct physical violence - one incidence where he pulls her by her hair. He does, however, regulate her food and will punish her by withholding it – so there are physical punishments.

Awards:

·        Gold Award in the Nielsen/Specsavers Bestseller Award 2016