fiction about healing from abuse

Post date: 2021-07-22 17:33:20

I'm reading Big Little Lies and it's doing me a lot of good. Looking for recommendations for similar books.

What I think I like about it is that it's about the psychological parts of abuse, not just during, but especially healing in the aftermath. I am in the putting-myself-together stage and it's proving really helpful to feel like (a) I'm not alone; and (b) there is a way through this.

What I seek is the following:

- No references, self-help, etc. I'm doing that and have resources for that. What I want are stories. True or false doesn't matter, but rich in character and emotional understanding and nuance.

- Doesn't need to be physical abuse. Emotional only is fine. Could also just be a really toxic and unhealthy relationship that requires healing from.

- There needs to have something in there about healing in the aftermath. I don't want a story which ends with leaving the abuser. What I want to see examples of is how to put myself together again. (It's fine if a good portion of the story does occur with the abuser; it just can't end there.)

- Ideally it would be good if the abuser wasn't a cardboard villain. I think they rarely are and what makes these things hard is when there was real love and obligation there. (If the story is otherwise good, then recommend it anyway, but my ideal would be for everyone involved to be recognisably human).

- I'm aware that most stories will probably have male abusers but I would especially appreciate (if possible) stories with different gender dynamics -- female abusers, queer or otherwise non-traditional relationships, etc.

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