The Cruelty
FlowerSong Press
People will often say things like; “If she knew she was in danger, why didn’t she just leave right then and there?” We might scream at TV characters in exasperation for staying, but should our own lives be televised, we may come to understand, staying and leaving are not simple doors a person walks through. They are life-altering decisions, ones not lightly made when the person in question has no memory, no money, nobody to turn to and no understanding of what they are ultimately capable of. But in those cases? Those desperate times where we run with the clothes on our backs and our children in our arms, there is without exception, a sane reason we choose to leave, and such instinct should never be second-guessed.
“The only option was for him to think she wasn’t going anywhere, because she no longer existed … Camila had escape by being more than a victim, more than a survivor. She had to be an avenger.”
The Cruelty focuses on abuses legacy. What learned behaviors from extreme abuse and mental illness can set individuals up to be controlled and manipulated to unimaginable levels. The book highlights connections between sexual abuse, sadism and domestic violence, illustrating the lack of resources survivors often have, to regain their lives.
This taut psychological thriller posits the question: What if you lost everything and someone controlled your entire existence. How would you survive? With horrific visceral twists, this suspenseful debut considers LGBTQ+ themes alongside sexual violence & assault, domestic violence & homicide. The truth needs to be revealed and this time the gloves are coming off…
ISBN: TBC
Coming soon