“I have always been an avid reader. Once I had my own children, I began to re-evaluate the stories that influenced me as a child; realising how much they shaped my view of what was normal in a relationship.   I was brought up on a traditional romantic narrative that is based on the redemptive power of a woman’s love. This theme is reinforced through literature, the media and of course, the ubiquitous rom com  Our story telling hasn’t moved far from the “love can conquer all” theme; our heroines the Jane Eyre’s and the Belle’s of the world, who tame a bad tempered beast by matching insults and aggression with love and forgiveness.

When I think about my own relationships, or the stories that woman have told me, I wonder how much these messages influence our tolerance of abusive relationship. As women, if we were less grateful for love and didn’t feel that we had the responsibility for our partner’s behaviours, would we be more protected against abusive relationships?

 

If we changed the stories we told 30 or 40 years ago, would it have changed the outcome for the work colleague whose ex-husband was so enraged by her choosing to leave him that he lay in wait for her one night and broke the bones in her face; the woman whose husband’s controlling behaviour included regulating how many tampons she could use each month; the friend who’s boyfriend constantly made fun of her and belittled everything she said; the woman who kept returning to a man who regularly punched and beat her, because he really loved her and couldn’t live without her. This happens all around us and despite legislation and increased awareness, these are stories that are repeated year after year, decade after decade and century after century.

 

According to the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW), an estimated 7.9% (1.3 million) of women experienced some form of domestic abuse in the year ending March 2018, and an estimated 28.9% (4.8 million) of women aged 16 to 59 years have experienced some form of domestic abuse since the age of 16 years. These are devastating statistics.

 

I wanted to write a story that showed how easily it is to get trapped into an unhealthy relationship; how love, children, loss of confidence can trap any women.  I wanted to show how women shoulder the blame for the behaviour of controlling and aggressive partners and how, even though friends and family may have their suspicions, a woman in an abusive relationship is often isolated and trapped by the lies she tells herself – by the lies she has been told.

 

When I started thinking about the characters in this story, I happened to be talking to a friend whose husband had a dust allergy. She was telling me and how much cleaning and dusting was required to protect him and stave off an allergic reaction. It struck me that for my character Mark, a fabricated dust allergy would a perfect tool to elicit sympathy, sow seeds of insecurity and exert domestic control over his partner Louise. Klaxon grew from there.

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I've written about some of the issues raised by Klaxon in this article 'All For One And One For All' and you may be interested in some of the book reviews on Amazon.

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I hope the story of Louise, and her son Zach, reaches as many readers as possible. If you're on of those readers, I'd love to hear from you! You can get in touch with me here.

 

Best wishes,

 

Niamh