Snowed

by Virginia Bennett

Overview

When Virginia Bennett, the heir to a large family farm, meets Liam O'Connor, a handsome, engaging forty-something, on a blind date, she falls for his good looks and charisma. Their shared background in farming brings them together, but after they get married, Virginia notices that something is amiss. As Liam asserts his authority on the farm, leading to conflict with her father, Virginia is unsure who to trust. She ultimately uncovers the truth of who Liam is and the secrets of his past. In this thought-provoking memoir, Virginia reveals how she overcame betrayal, offering poignant insights into pathological love relationships. This memoir captures the essence of what it means to be snowed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781794783744
Publisher:	Lulu.com
Publication date:	06/05/2021
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.53(d)

Editorial Reviews

2022-07-22
In a candid memoir, a middle-aged woman traces the trajectory of her addictive relationship with a manipulative sociopath.

Virginia Bennett, a sophisticated and successful executive at her family’s California almond farm, had been divorced for several years when she decided to start dating again. She met Liam O’Connor through a dating website and was immediately charmed by his careless good looks, his confident poise, and his thoughtful romantic gestures. The fact that he had emerged, like her, from a strongly religious background and a farming family increased her sense of attraction. Alongside these signs of budding compatibility, a number of warning flags caught Virginia’s attention—thoughtless, hurtful remarks, the repeated push-pull of enticement and rejection, a pattern of being short of money and needing her to pay most of their expenses. Though her increasing dependence on Liam caused Virginia to quickly rationalize most of these, her father and friends were actively suspicious of Liam’s behaviors. When she nonetheless decided to marry Liam, their wedding day was marred by her father’s refusal to attend and Liam’s inability to pay for their rings and celebration. As Liam’s financial problems mounted and his emotional manipulations increased, Virginia realized that her marriage was not sustainable and Liam was a danger to her family’s livelihood and her own emotional stability. But getting away from an experienced schemer who had embedded himself in her life and her heart would not be easy. Bennett’s memoir of her painful second marriage is honest and intimately revealing. As the details of Liam’s abuses mount, it becomes increasingly hard to understand why Virginia doesn’t end the relationship much sooner, but she does a skillful job of conveying the isolation and loss of personal power women experience in emotionally abusive marriages. As Virginia begins to untangle her enmeshment with Liam, the atmosphere of suspense mounts, as, like in a horror movie, the reader is tempted to call to her, “No, don’t open that door! Don’t answer that phone! Run!”

A chilling dissection of entrapment in and escape from an abusive relationship.

Kirkus Reviews