Review: Possession

Possession by Gillian Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.
Possession tells the story of a marriage gone bad. It starts out a bit slow. I was okay with that as I got to know and understand Anna, her family and her motivation. Once she meets Karl, the pace picks up but it becomes a difficult read due to the violence that is being done.
It is easy to be an armchair judge. I imagine a few who read this will do that. It can hard to believe that someone would chase after a spouse as Anna tells us Karl did. I imagine a few will think she is exaggerating or is paranoid. I’ve been in this situation. The one thing you can say about domestic violence is that it isn’t the same for everyone. Every situation is different in my experience. I’ve been in shelters and in therapy groups. No one exactly matched my story..or anyone else’s. I live an eight hour plane ride from my family. I’ve had people say oh enough time has passed or you live far enough away. I don’t answer. They won’t understand because they have their notion of what domestic violence is. I stayed until my youngest went to college. Judge me if you want. You weren’t the one who had divorce and protection orders thrown at them while a loaded gun was being shoved in the faces of their children finally being held to yours. You can’t say what Anna did or didn’t do was wrong or right. You weren’t there. You don’t know how crazy it can get. I hold a lot of what happened to us inside. The worst of it. I’m ashamed. I feel guilty. I suspect the same is true for Anna. The story for me, rang with honesty. If the author did not live it, she knows enough about it. If you are interested in domestic violence, read this book.
If you are in a domestic violence situation, plan carefully and do your best to get out. Seek assistance at thehotline.org, it has an emergency exit that will close the window quickly. The phone number in the States is 1−800−799−7233.

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