Belt Buckles & Pajamas
From there, the confusion starts. There are characters that are introduced in the chapters and suddenly disappear. They are not “discharged” from the hospital, but yet, they are no longer there, or a part of the daily therapy groups that take place. Glen, who is a protector of Daphne and Theodore, who is a wise man with a lot of odd things to say, are two of the characters that suddenly disappear.
You find out as you read further into the book that most of the characters that you come to know are all in her head; they are different personalities that she has created so that she could escape the abuse her father gave her. Once that is found out, I found myself re-reading the book, and thinking totally different thoughts about it. The book was no longer confusing, but very clever.
I have read more than one book on sexual abuse and they are all the same; the book talks about the victim, how it happened, how much therapy they needed, and how they overcame their trauma. This book does something totally different. It immediately starts in the treatment center, and forces you to get to know the characters as the book goes along. It doesn’t tell you that Daphne has multiple personalities right off because I think the author wants you to become attached to them and to have the shock value of figuring out that they aren’t even real.
The ending
is really good as well, with a really unexpected twist.
I would definitely recommend this book to
anyone who is looking for a good, intense read, but not for someone who
is
looking for straight forward information on childhood sexual abuse. I would also recommend reading the book
twice; I find that I learned just as many things the second time as I
did the
first time.