I am enjoying reading this book very much. However, I am disappointed that Alex was not prosecuted for attempted murder. Women who are assaulted need to prosecute it. Alex should only have been at the wedding if he had just gotten out of jail.
Alex was a tricky character. My heart wanted the fucker in jail jail JAIL. For a long, long time. But I also wanted to capture more than the idealistic picture. The portrayal is actually adapted (sadly, only slightly) from the history of a student of mine. An abuser with any kind of sway can often walk with a slap on the wrist, and Alex effectively did. He had a glowing coaching career going (and, as you know, this was totally written before the current football player abuse of girlfriends scandal), and he would have been able to use that. It’s one of the reasons I have him out there haunting Noel’s past, present, and future.
I am sorry but having a woman who is an intelligent educated person as a victim of severe abuse who does not prosecute the CRIMINAL who almost killed her is simple NOT acceptable. I am sure cases of lesser physical assaults do go unprosecuted and unpunished, but that is NOT acceptable and portraying it as “normal” is irresponsible to the point of being sickening. The scene you described was SEVERE assault, she alomst died, and to have her fail to prosecute is abhorent. Shame on you. This character should portray what a woman needs to do in this situation which is to put the CRIMINAL in jail where he should be. Again, as a woman SHAME on your for finding that acceptable and I doubt any woman who is almost MURDERED would NOT proscute if she has half a brain in her head. Women owe it to the others who will follow them to get those CRIMINALS off the streets.
I totally respect your perspective, and I can see why it disgusts you. I’m not looking to make it normal. The thought horrifies me. I’m looking to highlight what often happens and show why things go wrong. Also, I’m not suggesting that Noel didn’t prosecute, just that she didn’t succeed. She absolutely prosecuted, and one of the reasons she’s still traumatized is that he is still out there, still a wild card in her life. She’s married to his brother, after all, and though she trusts Lance completely, she has no real way of predicting when or where he’ll show up again, or what kinds of situations she might be forced to endure with him.
considering your response further, I am so disgusted by it I am not going to finish reading this book …. I am returning it to the store with a complaint and I will never NEVER read anything else you write. … again … shame on you … you might have been able to prevent at least one woman reading this from staying with, tolerating and allowing herself to be abused if you had given this character the courage to do the right thing …. instead you encouraged women to be quiet victims …. it is disgusting …. shame on you
Please read it all, both this reply and the book. Part of Noel’s journey is dealing with Alex and her response to him. Your response is what I consider normal, and it’s what I had to fight with in myself when writing the character. I knew what I needed to illustrate with him and exactly how repugnant it was. (But seriously, Noel prosecuted; the system failed her.I didn’t dwell on that section, and it sounds like it could have used some clarity, but that’s a developing strain that’s going to come back and back as this story develops. She’s ten years down the road and still not through processing.)
I am enjoying reading this book very much. However, I am disappointed that Alex was not prosecuted for attempted murder. Women who are assaulted need to prosecute it. Alex should only have been at the wedding if he had just gotten out of jail.
Alex was a tricky character. My heart wanted the fucker in jail jail JAIL. For a long, long time. But I also wanted to capture more than the idealistic picture. The portrayal is actually adapted (sadly, only slightly) from the history of a student of mine. An abuser with any kind of sway can often walk with a slap on the wrist, and Alex effectively did. He had a glowing coaching career going (and, as you know, this was totally written before the current football player abuse of girlfriends scandal), and he would have been able to use that. It’s one of the reasons I have him out there haunting Noel’s past, present, and future.
I am sorry but having a woman who is an intelligent educated person as a victim of severe abuse who does not prosecute the CRIMINAL who almost killed her is simple NOT acceptable. I am sure cases of lesser physical assaults do go unprosecuted and unpunished, but that is NOT acceptable and portraying it as “normal” is irresponsible to the point of being sickening. The scene you described was SEVERE assault, she alomst died, and to have her fail to prosecute is abhorent. Shame on you. This character should portray what a woman needs to do in this situation which is to put the CRIMINAL in jail where he should be. Again, as a woman SHAME on your for finding that acceptable and I doubt any woman who is almost MURDERED would NOT proscute if she has half a brain in her head. Women owe it to the others who will follow them to get those CRIMINALS off the streets.
I totally respect your perspective, and I can see why it disgusts you. I’m not looking to make it normal. The thought horrifies me. I’m looking to highlight what often happens and show why things go wrong. Also, I’m not suggesting that Noel didn’t prosecute, just that she didn’t succeed. She absolutely prosecuted, and one of the reasons she’s still traumatized is that he is still out there, still a wild card in her life. She’s married to his brother, after all, and though she trusts Lance completely, she has no real way of predicting when or where he’ll show up again, or what kinds of situations she might be forced to endure with him.
considering your response further, I am so disgusted by it I am not going to finish reading this book …. I am returning it to the store with a complaint and I will never NEVER read anything else you write. … again … shame on you … you might have been able to prevent at least one woman reading this from staying with, tolerating and allowing herself to be abused if you had given this character the courage to do the right thing …. instead you encouraged women to be quiet victims …. it is disgusting …. shame on you
Please read it all, both this reply and the book. Part of Noel’s journey is dealing with Alex and her response to him. Your response is what I consider normal, and it’s what I had to fight with in myself when writing the character. I knew what I needed to illustrate with him and exactly how repugnant it was. (But seriously, Noel prosecuted; the system failed her.I didn’t dwell on that section, and it sounds like it could have used some clarity, but that’s a developing strain that’s going to come back and back as this story develops. She’s ten years down the road and still not through processing.)