The Dark Moon

The day that Anne Maria and her husband discover that their teenage daughter has been sexually abused; that their best friends have supported the girl in her grief and distress; that all of them have adhered to the vow of silence she has implored of and imposed on them for at least a year and a half; that they have unwittingly been living a life of secrets and lies for all that time, is the day their world falls apart. This book and its story detail Anne Maria's long journey to understanding, forgiveness and healing. Every reader will recognise and feel the power of that journey. It is the archetypal journey of all women: Demeter's journey; the loss of the child, their daughter; the wild search for meaning; the plunge into despair and the dark world of the psyche; the overwhelming trials along the way in the seemingly endless search to find a way of reconciling herself with the truths she has discovered, with her daughter, who has locked herself away from her parents, with uncovering the darker aspects of her self and, ultimately, to becoming whole again. Anne Maria uses poetry, fairy story and myth to support this intimate and brutally honest recording of her initial feelings of helplessness, remorse, and guilt, and to sustain and nurture her epic tale of progress towards her own soul healing in this extraordinarily honest, powerful and beautiful piece of writing. The multiple layers in which she intricately entwines and wraps her story, the way in which she connects and reconnects, weaves these into her emotional progress on the journey, the honesty and lucidity of the expression of her thinking and feeling are emotionally taxing but essential reading for those of us who know that we need to embark - or are already on - our own personal journey toward truth and reconciliation.