My husband controlled and ab:us:ed me every day. One day, I fainted. He rushed me to the hospital, putting on a perfect act: “She fell down the stairs.” But he didn’t expect the doctor to notice signs that only a trained eye could catch. He didn’t ask me anything — he looked straight at him and called security: “Lock the door. Call the police.”

each one a little more certain than the last. She had carved out space for herself, and in doing so, had begun to rediscover who she was beyond the woman she had been in Ryan’s shadow.

The beach trip with Claire had been a turning point. The trip was everything they had both needed—time away from the city, time away from their pasts, time to simply continue reading …