The Character
By Tiffini Johnson
This novel will make you cry.
Told in a first person narrative by ten year-old Anna, the story is about sexual and physical abuse. The author has accurately captured the voice, grammar, and life of a child trapped in a nightmare where morning never seems to come and reality fades to what the mind imagines or denies. It is a painful read that will touch your emotions as you feel Anna’s loneliness, betrayal, guilt, shame, and pain. Stay with it and you will be rewarded in ways you could not have imagined.
The Characters
Anna – the ten year-old narrator
Ash – Anna’s imaginary friend
Daddy – Anna’s father
Mama – Anna’s mother
Emily Grayson – a classmate
Miss Sarah – a child psychologist/therapist
Mrs. Keller – Anna’s teacher
John – Mama’s new friend
The Story
The prologue opens with Anna sharing a memory of the day her father took her swimming. It is a nice memory and we learn it is the only good memory that she has of her father. We quickly learn that Anna was seven years old the first time her father abused her. Trapped alone with him in the evenings while her mother works as a nurse she shivers in her bed as she hears floorboards creak and doorknobs turn.
Ash becomes a necessary companion and confidant ready to share stories and encourage Anna to write stories of her own. The stories are parables that shine lights on happenings and offer possibility and hope. Ash encourages Anna to write. And write she does. Everything goes into her notebook. But writing about everything can sometimes become a problem.
I encourage anyone in contact with children to read this novel. Ms. Johnson’s offers an accurate portrayal of signs and symptoms of abuse. The work would also lend itself to therapy sessions helping victims to understand that they are not alone.
