WHY THIS BOOK? WHY NOW?
The main character in DAUGHTER OF THE WEEDS comes from a home where domestic violence ends in murder. The trajectory of the story repeats in every generation for hundreds of years, eventually ending in the death of her sister. This book is a work of fiction. It was inspired by my experience growing up in a home with violence and the death of a close family member through a violent marriage.
There was no prosecution.
There was evidence but no witness.
My desire for justice could only come through my imagination. I imagined a justice delivered not from the courts, but from the hand of the child who was left behind. I do not condone violence, but I do want women to be safe in the world and for abusers to be held accountable for the harm they do to those they are supposed to love. When violence is normalized, children grow up to associate love with abuse. It’s insidious. Your normal is not normal. Secrecy breeds shame. Shame breeds low self-esteem. Low self-esteem breeds acceptance of abuse.
According to the National Institute for Health, approximately 10 million people each year are affected by domestic violence. Women are the most common victims, but violence and abuse affect everyone in the household.
Each year, approximately 500,000 women are physically assaulted or raped by an intimate partner.
Three out of 10 women at some point are stalked, physically assaulted, or raped by an intimate partner.
Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk in his seminal work, The Body Keeps The Score, examines how the brain, mind, and body absorb, transfer, and heal from trauma. His work explained the patterns of abusive relationships I witnessed.
If you, or someone you know, is in an abusive relationship please seek help. You deserve safety. You deserve love. You deserve to live. The character in my story died and left a child behind. When you protect yourself you are protecting your children and your children’s children. On average a woman makes 7 attempts to leave before succeeding. Please, take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
For legal assistance, shelter, and advocacy in New Mexico, contact the Domestic Violence Resource Center (DVRC) at https://dvrcnm.org/
This book is for our daughters, all of them, but most especially the ones we lost.