4 out of 4 stars
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Heartaches by H.M Irwing
Anna walters-simmons is the daughter of Jane Simmons, whose turbulent relationships with men had left her and young Anna broken. Anna herself was not so lucky with men as her first boyfriend, whom she thought was her "savior" from her miserable life orchestrated her gang rape. Her life changed forever. Then, she meets Rafael Brown, a sexually assaulted and broken man too. They fall in love and together, take another shot at life. But unknown to them, the assaults had just begun. Could there be a connection between their different stories about the same evil?
Set in Melbourne, Australia, Heartaches brings to light the pain of sexual abuse victims and the justice they often never get. This is echoed in an almost unbelievable statistics retorted to Anna by the public prosecutor who agreed to take on her case: "there's roughly close to four thousand rape cases that get reported every year... . We only put away just over a hundred of these offenders yearly. And those stats are just for Victoria alone... the rest of Australia surely fares much worse...". And Anna was forced to admit that she was being raped by her country. It also has a feminist undertone which resonates throughout the story. For instance, when Anna thought that she was like her mother, always turning to another man for comfort after being betrayed by a man and in the end only getting more betrayal.
Heartaches echoes of freedom, pain, hope, survival, empathy, friendship and justice. It is undeniably a heartfelt prayer for humanity. It also passes on the message that something can be done about injustice but not if we remain silent about our abuse and those of others. And as a feminist and Human Rights Activist, no message can be greater.
I was a little uncomfortable with the explicit sex content but it was necessary and the message it passed was more than worth it. I did not notice any error worth mentioning. It was well edited. So I rated it four out of four points.
H.M Irwing's book is powerful and timely, and I recommend it to activists, law enforcement agents, prosecutors, politicians, social and health workers, Victims and survivors, and to everyone who chooses not to remain silent in the face of oppression. There is so much self-realization from this story and you- like me- might just realize that you have been silent about your abuse and have turned your eyes away from those of others.
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Heartaches
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