Ashes of a Madman

Author's Note: A Warning

Dear Reader:

As this novel explores darker themes related to domestic violence, substance abuse and sexual abuse, an explanation and a warning are appropriate.

Fascinating as the legends of death rituals may be, they are certainly well-founded in archaeological fact all over the earth. The ritual described herein is an amalgam of several, but mainly suited to the mesmeric climax of the fictitious characters performing it. That said, the violence described in Uganda, the horrific details pertaining to Afa's description of Yaka childbearing and burial traditions were facts encountered during my extensive research. Even Manyalibo's death ritual garment and image of skull and tusk were cited just as I had referenced them. I chose to include those details because acts of violence take witnesses to it by surprise, as an aberration. Introducing violence in a faraway place lends to the feelings of helplessness and remoteness that victims tend to experience. Carrying it back home demonstrates that it can be hidden behind any closed door: our friends', our neighbors', our own.

The World Health Organization states that 35% of women worldwide have reported either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. 30% of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner. Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

These are just the numbers of those who have reported violence done to them. Estimates of violence against women which goes unreported can only be guessed, but we can safely assume the number of women who have experienced sexual, physical and/or verbal abuse is much higher. Additionally, a higher rate of substance abuse is reported among victims of abuse, which has its own contingent set of problems. All too frequently, the cycle of violence is perpetuated, often affecting a child who either becomes a direct victim or who witnesses the abuse.

Even when a victim has made it to a safe place, the emotional damage can take a great deal of time to heal and is best done under the guidance of a trained professional.

If you are a victim and have not reported it, please talk to someone who can really help. A friend may be a good resource, although please be sure that it is a person who will not just empathize, but will help you formulate an action plan, find a safe place for you to go and emotionally prepare you to do what you need to do to be safe. There are very good psychotherapists that can assist you, shelters, support groups, and various organizations that stand ready to listen, to help and to keep you safe. Though there is much that still needs to be done, laws protecting women have improved in many nations, and education has improved women's safety.

Find a safe path and put your feet on it.

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For readers of any of my other posted novel, please know that this book, Ashes of a Madman, is a stand alone. It is a very different female character from my other books. Rebecca is not a representation of a modern woman: she is a product of her era, her societal expectations, her life experience. You may want to throw your reading device across the room, but you will know how and why she makes her decisions, no matter that a modern, independent woman would make different choices. Remember too, as you read, that when a person is being manipulated, a person may know that something is off and their guard may be up, but the assumption is never that you are already lying in the depths of the trap. It may take years to realize the extent of the design. Our nature is built on assuming that we are clever, that we would know if we were being manipulated, that we always know where that line is and would always know how to walk away, how to tell off the bad guy. Well, aren't you just clever enough to become the prey of a master manipulator! When you believe that you are standing, beware you do not fall.