Atropa Belladonna Book Summary Eve has recovered from the devastating aftermath of an obsessive affair. She appears to have established a new life with a loving, surrogate family where she can raise her lover Jeff's illegitimate son and secure her reputation. As she embarks on an independent life, Jeff writes to tell her he's been recently widowed and asks Eve to marry him. After tragedy strikes again, Eve is drawn back into his orbit. She moves to Chicago and begins a new life as his wife. Before long she finds herself trapped by his violence. Fearing the worst, she devises a plan to save herself and her children. Atropa Belladonna poetically illustrates the complexities of love, marriage and abuse in the context of the 1950s family. ***Atropa Belladonna is a sequel to Exuberance Is Beauty, my historical novel set in the late 1940s. While Atropa Belladonna is a stand alone novel, it does reveal the plot details and the ending of Exuberance Is Beauty very early in the book.

"Napakaunfair mo." Sabi ni Carson. "You asked me to marry you. Kaya nga tinanong kita noon kung sigurado ka ba. I've been there, Theo. Alam mo iyon. I've been left behind. I trusted you when you said you will not do the same thing. You just asked me to love you every day. Tumupad ako, Theo. Tumupad ako." She covered her face and continued crying beside him. But he was just there, sitting still. "I don't love you, Carson. I had to do it for my own sake. I am not the gentle and loving guy you know. I am far from that." "No..." umiiling na sagot nya dito. "You're just telling me that so I could leave you." Puno ng puot na tumingin si Theo sa kanya. "Ano pa bang gusto mong sabihin ko? You want truth, right? That's the truth." "Then let me do something. I'll do anything you want. Kahit ano. Just love me again, Theo." Pakiusap nya dito. "Please love me again." Hindi na nya kaya ang sakit na nararamdaman. Sobra sobra na. As much as she wanted to leave, she won't. Hindi nya hahayaang bigyan ng pag-asa si Theo sa gusto nitong mangyari.

Hindi siya madaling intindihin, alam ko na yun from the start. It's never been easy to understand the duality of Celise even when I first struck up a conversation with her. But we've been together for a fair amount of time. At least for me, that was enough to relate it as something beyond casual friendship. But then, suddenly, she disappeared as easily as she had arrived. Without even making a single notice; a damn cry for last goodbye. - Archie