I am delighted to be sharing my review of Isolation Junction by Jennifer Gilmore as part of the Blog Tour with Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources. Many thanks to Rachel for the invite and to Jennifer for my e-copy of this book.

Synopsis:

Rose is the mother of two young children, and finds herself living a robotic life with an abusive and controlling husband. While she struggles to maintain a calm front for the sake of her children, inside Rose is dying and trapped in ‘Isolation Junction’.

She runs an online business from home, because Darren won’t let her work outside the house. But through this, she meets other mums and finds courage to attend networking events, while Darren is at work, to promote her business.

It’s at one of these events that Rose meets Tim, a sympathetic, dark-haired stranger who unwittingly becomes an important part of her survival.

After years of emotional abuse, of doubting her future and losing all self-confidence, Rose takes a stand. Finding herself distraught, alone and helpless, Rose wonders how she’ll ever escape with her sanity and her children. With 100 reasons to leave and 1,000 reasons she can’t will she be able to do it? Will Tim help her? And will Rose find peace and the happiness she deserves? Can Rose break free from this spiralling life she so desperately wants to change?

Based on true events.

Purchase Link Amazon UK

My Thoughts:

Rose and Darren met, things were good, he paid attention to her, gave compliments and presents, took her out. Gradually these things start getting less and Darren’s attitude starts to alter. He is mentally and physically abusive, Rose is the object of this abuse and the manipulation that Darren metes out.

Well for a 140-page book this really did grab me. The author had me hooked pretty quick as I learned about Rose, her life and the conditions in which she lives. The author mentions in the introduction that experiences from many women have helped create this story. It shows…

The isolation that Rose felt was progressive and is something that shows the level of manipulation, chipping away at the things that are important socially such as family and friends. The clever way an abuser will leave bruises that do not show is the psychological way that an abuser knows he is doing something wrong and wants to hide it from the outside world. The author manages to capture the downward spiral that Rose personally goes through as Darren gradually dominates their relationship.

Rose does have an online business, it gives her the opportunity to meet Tim. He is someone she begins to trust and shares what is going on at home. She cannot just walk away from Darren and her children, but when Darren throws her out of their home it is Tim that helps her.

This is a superb book that highlights abuse in the home, yes it is difficult reading as you would expect, it is also hopeful and encouraging as it shows that there is life after abuse. The author has done such a great job of creating a fictional story that deals with a hard subject. I hope that anyone that is in the situation that Rose found herself in will read it and take hope and know that things can change. A book that I would definitely recommend.

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I am going to share a little something with anyone reading this, it will explain why I thought this book was so realistic. It was because there were so many things I recognised from my life while I was in a mentally and physically abusive relationship, it also reminded me how easy it was for me to accept what was happening when my confidence had been completely shattered and I was being completely isolated. People often say why didn’t you leave? Simple answer … I couldn’t. I didn’t know how. I had not got the courage to. The list of excuses is endless until one particular event made me realise I had to end the cycle and the relationship. Reading this book brought so many things back to me, it also gave me a chance to witness events as an outsider, something I hadn’t done before. The memories that this story evoked made me sad and angry at how long it took me to realise that things had to change. Knowing and acting at a time that was right for me. Now I have confidence, I can laugh, I can listen to what music I want to, watch the films I want to, I can go out and do things that interest me, simple basic things that were denied me for 14 years. I am now in a relationship that allows me to be me. Being myself and doing things I want to do is such a simple thing in life, and simetimes it can be the hardest thing to achieve. But I did it.

About the Author:

Born in the North East, Jennifer is a young, married mum with three children. In addition to being an author, she is an entrepreneur, running a family business from her home-base. Her blog posts have a large readership of other young mums in business.

From an early age, Jennifer has had a passion for writing and started gathering ideas and plot lines from her teenage years. A passionate advocate for women in abusive relationships, she has drawn on her personal experiences to write this first novel. It details the journey of a young woman from the despair of an emotionally abusive and unhappy marriage to develop the confidence to challenge and change her life and to love again.

Links: Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Amazon – Goodreads – Huffington Post

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