Congregate if you dare

A NetGalley review of

The Congregation

by

Desiree Bombenon.

A congregation of the abused, strong in their determination to channel their emotional hurt into something positive –  for them – but in reality a destructive act of great consequences.

A story of just what lengths people will go when they have been hurt by those they trusted. From the child battered by a parent; to a child abused by a person in a position of trust suh as a priest or social worker; to a wife beaten on a regular absis by her abusive controlling husband; all will go to extreme lengths to demonstrate just how damaged they are by what has happened to them.

The legacy of such tragedy goes on echoing down the generations and the Roman Catholic Church still has not fully answered for its sins – or so those in the Congregation would attest.

In Chicago, there were a number of allegations of sexual and physical abuse in the RC church carried out by priets of varying ranks. So much so that  Andrew Greeley wrote The Priestly Sins (2004), a novel about a young priest from the Plains States who is exiled to an insane asylum and then to an academic life because he reports abuse that he has witnessed.

Fall from Grace is a 1993 novel by Father Greeley. It is a story of sin and corruption in leading Irish Catholic families in Chicago and the cover up of child sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. [Wikipedia]

It is clear from records now released that the RC church including Jesuits and schools in Chicago hid the behaviour of priests such as  Donald McGuire and Daniel McCormack who are now convicted. So the setting was very important for this novel.

The other issue that drives tis story is the church’s stance on homosexuality. Apparently, it is OK to have such thoughts, but not to act on them.  Between 20 and 60 percent of all Catholic priests are gay, according to one estimate cited by Donald Cozzens in his book The Changing Face of the Priesthood. This is a higher percentage than in the general population and there has been much speculation that a gay lobby exists within the Vatican power brokers. Nevertheless, being known to be gay in the priesthood, is a recipe for blackmail and so we see in this story also.

These are both very important issues and either would have made for a great thriller by other authors, but this story lacks tension and insufficient complications and mis-directions to provide for a really satisfactory read. Thi is sad as the auhor has picked a great possibility but has not followed through. We found out the perpetrators too early and the hero/heroine had too little to do to unravel the plot.

So this is a light version of a conspiracy novel that would work for those not familiar for the genre and wanting an introduction but for me lacked depth.

 

Who let’s who go?

I Let You Go

by

Clare Mackintosh

A Netgalley review

This is definitely a thriller/mystery where just who let who go changes every chapter. Until the very end you don’t know the answer.

I found it quite addictive writing and had to know just who was the bad guy. Who was the mother and whose child was let go? Why did the vehicle not stop? And who prevented it from stopping?

And is the photographer the mother or the driver? I changed my mind every other chapter. She was clearly haunted by something hence her running away but then people run away for lots of reasons.

What we come back to of course in the very end is an abusive husband and spousal abuse and the difficulty of keeping wives safe even in safe houses. It is often forgotten that abuse can be mental and emotional not just physical and that classically the removal of the wife from their circle of support is the first step towards total isolation and the need for them to require approval from only one person. Who can then undermine them very easily. Mental and emotional abuse is more common as a method of abuse amongst the middle classes it would seem.

http://www.womensaid.org.uk/ states that an analysis of 10 separate domestic violence prevalence studies found consistent findings: 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence over their lifetimes and between 6-10% of women suffer domestic violence in a given year (Council of Europe, 2002). 1.4 million women suffered abuse last year (http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb) yet the numbers going to the police were very low in comparison to these figures. Yet the police force in Northumbria receive 83 calls a day relating to domestic violence. A study showed that women often suffer for more than three years before they get help. SafeLives estimates that at least 100,000 victims of domestic violence are at high risk of murder or serious injury in England and Wales, 94% of them women. “Domestic abuse is not a one-off violent attack. It is deliberate long-term use of coercion to control every part of the partner’s life. Violence, sexual abuse, financial control, constant criticism, isolating from family and friends are all familiar tools,” Vera Baird, former solicitor general and the current police and crime commissioner for Northumberland, said. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/25/domestic-violence-could-be-stopped-earlier-study.

We can add to that some statistics from the US: Intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking are important and widespread public health problems in the United States. On average, 20 people per minute are victims of physical violence by an intimate partner in the United States. Over the course of a year, that equals more than 10 million women and men. Those numbers only tell part of the story—nearly 2 million women are raped in a year and over 7 million women and men are victims of stalking in a year. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nisvs/. Intimate partner violence includes • Psychological aggression which is the use of verbal and nonverbal communication with the intent to harm another person mentally or emotionally and/or exert control over another person, and it is this type of abuse that we finally find out was in use in this book by the husband. This type of abuse can cause emotional harm. Victims may have trauma symptoms. This includes flashbacks, panic attacks, and trouble sleeping. Victims often have low self-esteem. They may have a hard time trusting others and being in relationships and so we see here.

Overall, I found this an excellent book and look forward to reading more by this author.

 

Pregnancy: Guilt and Shame?

Title: Burnt Edges

Author: Dana Leipold
Publisher: Booktrope
Publication Date: July 2015
Genre: Women’s Fiction

Familiar abuse or an uncertain future? Which would you choose?

This is Laurel Lee Page’s dilemma when she is faced with an unplanned pregnancy at nineteen. Born into a broken family, guilt and shame are all she has ever known. No matter what she does or whom she meets, Laurel appears to be living a condemned life. However, she is determined to find independence and freedom in spite of her family’s legacy of hatred and self-contempt.

Set in Southern California during the tumultuous 1960’s, Burnt Edges is a contemporary novel based on true events that prove strength can emerge in the most horrific of circumstances.

Author Bio:

Dana Leipold is a freelance writer and author. She has self-published two books: a collection of limericks in Dr. Seuss-style for adults entitled, Stupid Poetry: The Ultimate Collection of Sublime and Ridiculous Poems, and a non-fiction book entitled, The Power of Writing Well: Write Well. Change the World. She also coaches other writers on story structure, messaging, and writing skills so they can achieve their dreams to become published authors. Leipold lives with her husband and two children in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Author Links:
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