My good friend Sally Bend (@bibrary) has scared the shit out of me again with her latest book – Fear, Love and Broken Things.
If not for the fact that I have read her work in the past, I probably would never have gotten past the preview. The talk of bugs and vermin crawling around had my skin crawl just as much as her main character Caitlin – although for different reasons.
This shorter piece tells a very difficult story about Caitlin who is in an abusive relationship and had the courage to get away from her husband. With little more than the clothes on her back, she finds “safety” in a filthy hotel room to try and recover enough to contemplate her next move.
The story has a very skin crawling set of twists and turns that will have Caitlin and the reader looking over their shoulder and jumping out of their beds. Long time abuse has her remembering the demands and instructions of her husband and at the same time Caitlin finds the liberating joy of defying him from a far. Along the way she finds the courage to reach out to a friend and confide in someone new. The chance meeting empowered Caitlin as she began defying her husband’s memory and did unspeakable things that would have resulted in devastating pain, but instead armored her as she continued fighting through the physical and emotional scars. What she never expected was to find the solution in someone so “unique.”
I always like stories that make me think, ask questions and leave me wanting more. If you’re like me… this story is for you.
5 Creepy Crawly Stars