Dublin, Ireland-based author Laura Elliot has worked as a journalist and magazine editor and published books and stories for children and young adults (under the name June Considine), some published in anthologies and broadcast on radio. Her ventures into crime fiction have produced the psychological thrillers, The Wife Before Me, The Thorn Girl, Stolen Child, Fragile Lies, The Betrayal, Sleep Sister and The Prodigal Sister.
In her novel, The Wife Before Me, Elena Langdon is grieving the loss of her mother when she meets Nicholas Madison, who is grieving the loss of his wife whose car slid off a pier, her body never found. Elena moves in with Nicholas, but she doesn't really know him, what he's capable of, or what really happened to Amelia. Until the day she discovers the torn page of a letter, and the words she reads chill her to the bone. Elena must find the person who wrote these letters if she is to save herself.
Laura stops by to take some Author R&R today about writing and researching her book:
Herstories That Can Never be Forgotten
Sometimes, when I have finished a book, I struggle to remember what inspired me to write it. The original idea that drew me to the blank page will have been condensed into the writing process, distilled in the struggle with plot, character, time frame, location and the other elements that bring a narrative to its conclusion. Not so with The Wife Before Me. The roots of this novel were planted long ago when I—a young, impressionable teenager with a belief in happy-ever-after love stories—saw the bruises on a woman’s arms, her swollen face. This is my first encounter with violence and it will leave a lasting impression on me.
The year is 1965, and a young mother, on returning from a visit to the local school to collect her two children, discovers that the locks have been changed on her front door. The family house has been sold by her husband, which, under Irish law, he has the power to do. All this will change with the Family Home Protection Act of 1976, but, until then, a man is free to sell the family home without the consent or even the knowledge of his wife.
Before this latest betrayal by the partner who vowed to love and cherish her, Brenda (not her real name) has been beaten mercilessly by him from the early days of their marriage. She has been made to feel worthless and deserving of his brutality. This final act, selling the home they have made together, is the ultimate expression of his control.
Somehow, finding the courage to defy him, she refuses to leave the house. She knows that if she does so, she and her two children will be made homeless. The new owner, unable to move in, grows increasingly angry at the delay. He has her under surveillance and when she leaves to collect her children, he takes advantage of her absence to seize possession of what is now his property. With the help of his friends, he dumps all her possessions onto the avenue outside and she does not have the means of redressing this terrible wrong.
Fast forward half a century to 2015. Much has changed for women in Ireland, yet some things remain the same. A young woman is returning to her home after a night out with friends. Her ex-partner and the father of their two children waits in the shadows. By the time he has finished punching and kicking her, he has fractured her eye sockets, face and skull, and left her unconscious. Unknown to him, the assault is being recorded on CCTV which she has installed to prevent him breaking a barring order that was granted against him. When he is finally charged for his assault on her, the court decides he will not be tried for attempted murder and he is jailed for only two and a half years.
These two stories—and others with a heart-breaking similarity—are the inspiration for my novel, The Wife Before Me.
Over the years I lost touch with Brenda, but she is the reason I become involved with a group that specialises in advising women on their legal rights. These are the early days of the feminist struggle in Ireland and much in society needs changing. I begin to write for their magazine, a decision that leads me on to a career in journalism. I cover many issues over the years that follow, and Brenda comes immediately to mind when I conduct a group interview with women who have fled violent relationships and sought sanctuary in a refuge centre. They all carry the same scars but each person’s story is unique.
Mary’s husband doesn’t lay a hand on her until he is made redundant. Joan’s partner first shows his violent tendencies on their honeymoon when the effort of keeping that side of his personality hidden results in an attack on her that sets the pattern of their marriage. Rita’s husband only uses his fists after their first child is born. Women describe how their partner’s addictions ferments their violence. Other describe psychological abuse that leaves them feeling worthless and deserving of their partner’s brutality. All speak about the conflict of emotions they experience before making the decision to flee their family home.
All their experiences coalesce in my mind when I decide to explore the theme of domestic violence in The Wife Before Me. I read reports, absorb statistics that ground my narrative in the reality of our times. I set my story in Ireland where I’ve lived all my life but the same facts would be comparable, no matter where I locate my story.
The National Crime Council Research (2005) estimate that over 213,000 women in Ireland are experiencing severe domestic violence, and that only 7% of victims ever reach out to a helpline like Women’s Aid (the national domestic violence frontline support organisation) for support. A 2019 survey from Women's Aid state that they were contacted over 19,000 times in 2018 for support and claim that this is just a fraction of the women who are experiencing abuse in their own homes.
In Britain, one incidence of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute. Findings from nearly 80 population-bases studies indicate that between 10% and 60% of women who have ever been partnered have experienced at least one incident of physical violence from a current or former partner. [Ellsberg & Heise, 2005, WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence].
On average in the United States, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner, and it is estimated that more than ten million people experience domestic violence each year.
Eventually, I have to stop reading statistics, surveys and studies. I find myself buried under their weight and they are steering me in too many different directions. I take time out to allow my thoughts to settle. I have a book to write and need to merge all those stories and statistics into a work of fiction.
The Wife Before Me is an exploration of physical and psychological abuse but is also about women who find the courage to make their own decisions to pull free from the domination of a controlling partner. It is also about the strength of female friendship. Since writing my book, I have been receiving letters from women who find that my characters Elena and Amelia have touched a nerve with them. They tell their stories to me. I’m shocked but also amazed at their courage to carve for themselves a new life, free from brutality, control, and fear.
For Brenda, justice is never avenged. She is eventually housed by the local authority and moved into a flat complex. It is located not far from her original address and she can see the residential, tree-lined avenue where she once lived from her fifth story window. This could distress her, but she is free from harm and this is her liberation.
Jessica, the young woman whose CCTV system captured her ex-partner in action as he violently assaults her, now helps other women to leave abusive relationships. She is a survivor, gifted with courage and wisdom, but she could all too easily have been a victim who never lived to tell her story.
You can read more about Laura and her books via her website, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook. The Wife Before Me and her other novels are available via all major booksellers.
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