DebJpole Hello everyone,
So the author of The Empty Couple contacted me and asked if I’d review his book in exchange for an honest review. Of course I accepted and it wasn’t what I was expecting at all!
Ruth and her boyfriend Michael seem to have it all their own way. Ruth is a successful lawyer. They own a beautiful home and drive expensive and luxurious cars. Yes, their life is a dream come true.
But not everything is as it seems and with every dream comes a nightmare…
When Michael loses his job, it’s not just this that seems to change. He becomes angry…violent. Disappearing for hours at a time and returning blind drunk and reeking of alcohol.
At first denial of the obvious is Ruth’s first line of defence. But denial can also be dangerous.
Whilst wishing for their lives to return the way they once were, Ruth begins to realise that as Michael’s temper grows worse, her life is in danger.
Soon trapped in this reoccurring nightmare, she finds herself cut off from her friends and no one to turn too. She needs help. She cannot afford the bills by herself and is struggling to keep up the appearance of a happy-go-lucky wife.
“I am praised so much at work…I am despised so much at home. I feel the hurt more than the love. I’m stuck with a man who doesn’t love me.”
None of this matters if she isn’t strong enough to leave. To fight. To escape.
This wasn’t what I was expecting at all but I read it within 30 minutes because it’s super short in length but super easy yet addictive in nature to read. Oh and did I mention it’s written in poems? Yeah that’s right, each chapter is a poem. Essentially the book is an anthology of poems but written like a story and honestly it does genuinely feel like you’re reading a book and not a poem. It’s very cleverly done and the writing is perfect especially considering that the theme of the book is such a taboo subject.
In 2019 alone, 1.6 million women experienced some form of domestic abuse in the UK. You hear these horrific stories but never think it’ll happen to you. Until it does. I experienced this over the last year and a bit when I was with my (now) ex. Like Ruth, I was blind to it and couldn’t see what was happening, even after my friends told me and warned me. It wasn’t until I was being cut off from my friends and family that I could suddenly see everything my friends had warned me about and I left. It won’t pretend that it was easy because it was anything but. However, since ending it, I have begun to find me again.
“Why should I need to be with a man who hurts me?…Why should I live each day being unloved?”
Please be careful out there everyone and put yourself first.
Until next time,
Keep reading,
You can find it on Amazon
D x
