Silencing Anna
by
Sadie D Mitchell
James Green, Anna’s ex-boyfriend,
has been arrested and charged with attacking Anna after she was found
unresponsive in hotel bathroom. James claims he’s innocent and Anna, unconsciousness,
in a hospital bed is unable to tell the truth. But James Green is far from
innocent.
He’s an abuser.
He believes he has the
right to control his partner and he uses many tactics to achieve this. The
first he uses is early in the relationship and it’s to build her up. He dazzles
Anna with attention, compliments and gifts. He makes sure that she knows that
he’s never ever had such an amazing woman before.
Anna feels loved, protected
and cherished, and this is the hook James has dangled in front of his victim. She’s
reeled in. But then comes the verbal abuse and coercive control.
James creates a cycle
where he hurts Anna and then heals her again. It’s subtle to start with, but it
eventually escalates to physical violence. James always denies responsibility
for his actions, shifting the blame onto the victim and using mind games to
make her doubt herself. He also isolates her from her family and erodes her
self-confidence.
James is a horrible character. He is cruel and nasty and ugly inside, but only
those closest to James would ever get to witness this. He controls himself in
public and presents a wholesome image to the outside world. He has a good job,
he is intelligent, funny, interesting, well dressed and softly spoken. No one would suspect him to be an abuser and
Anna herself doesn’t realise that she is being abused, even after he has
violently attacked her.
This the most important
message in Silencing Anna: domestic
abuse is hidden from the outside world, and it is even hidden from the abused
through a mesh of mind games and psychological attacks.
I deliberately developed the character of James to show the contrast between
how someone presents themselves to the outside world and the reality of their
behaviour. You see, it’s not always possible to tell if someone is an abuser.
They’re not likely to admit their behaviour, and are often the most presentable
and charming of people!
I based the character
traits of James on my ex-partner. He was gentle, softly spoken and funny. He
wasn’t macho—far from it. He liked art and flowers, he loved interior design
and could make anything look nice. He didn’t drink even beer or spirits, and he
wasn’t into football. He appreciated beauty and culture. He didn’t fit any
stereotype of abuser that I was aware of at the time.
Everyone was shocked when
I left him, and told them why. But family and friends believed me and helped me
grow again. I owe them a lot.
In all honesty, I think
that most frightening thing about an abusive relationship is the fact that you
don’t have to look far to find a woman who has met and had a relationship with
someone just like James Green.
That is the biggest
reason for writing the book. I want to shout about this from the rooftops. I
want to raise awareness and wake society up from its apathy regarding domestic
abuse for Anna’s story is harrowing, but it is not unique.
Do you know a man like
James? I’d bet my life that you do.
Introducing...
Silencing Anna
Voices surround Anna as she lies on her
hospital bed, but she cannot answer them. Her voice has been taken, along with
her mobility and her sight. She can hear the nurses chattering and her family
that come to visit.
Her mum cries a lot and her dad struggles to deal with what
he sees. Life used to be good for Anna, but life can change in a heartbeat, as
she knows so well.
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And then there are the people we think
we know. When the smile hides the anger. When the beauty hides the beast.
Only Anna knows the truth, but Anna
cannot speak.
About the author:
This is Sadie’s
first novel. She has three children and works in healthcare.
When she’s not writing or working most of her life seems to involve picking up
toys and finding things she’d forgotten she has.
WWBB note: I have read Silencing Anna (review to follow) and it was truly a brilliant book. It won't be one to forget in a hurry!
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