Writing a book of a girl’s home abuse

The 54 year-old, of Gorse Hill, has written her first novel, Dragons and Butterflies: Just Like Her Father, which is about child abuse and fractured family relationships.

The novel, which tells the life of Jean Ridgeway, is part of a trilogy Marie has written on the subject and is based on the experiences of a close friend, who consented to the book being written.

“It is about a young girl who had a violent father.

“Jean’s story was one which I wanted to let the world know about because she is a fighter and, even though she was young, Jean was the sort of girl who tried to outsmart her abuser,” said Marie.

“You don’t need to have been a victim of abuse to understand this book.

“It is just one girl’s story about how she coped as a child and how she ended up living a double life, for which she paid a huge price.

“As a reader, the book takes you through a raft of emotions: firstly you warm to Jean, then you feel sorry for her, you cry over her, you laugh.

“She is an incredible character, so brave and so courageous for someone so young. With the help of Jean’s young friends, Max and Thai, you watch her grow in stature as she tries to outwit her abuser, so much so that you just want him to simply fall off a high cliff.”

The book took several months for Marie to write at home, sometimes working up to 16 hours a day.

Since it was released in March, she has taken part in a booksigning at her local, the Ashford Road Club.

The grandmother-of-two has just finished writing the next two parts of the trilogy which deals with Jean Ridgeway’s compelling story of taking the scars of an abused childhood into adulthood, with more surprise twists and turns.

Marie is also mapping out a fourth novel which will be published in 2013.

Dragons and Butterflies: Just Like Her Father spans the UK and the racial hotbed of 1960s Singapore, as Jean travels with her military service family.

It has been self-published and is available on Amazon for £8.99.