More books with possible connections

On Tuesday, more shared their books that they will be writing on for the upcoming book review paper.  The following is what was shared.

One hour in Paris by Karyn Freedman, published in 2014

• An American girl in Paris and on vacation
• Raped occurred in 1990
• The perpetrator was the target's boyfriend's mentor's lover
• He plied her with alcohol
• Raped her at knifepoint, multiple times
• Role of the police: immediate response, reporting, police search, rape kit
• police search/hold boyfriend and mentor overnight
• The rapist was arrested 3-4 months later
• Convicted, sentence of 8 years
• The book focuses on her account and rape statistics
• Focus on PTSD, patriarchy
• Some of her feeling include how culture makes women feel unsafe
• She got a grant to write the book

Invisible Taget by Andrea Clemons, published 2015

• Relationship began in 1981 (target was in 9th grade)
• Relationship became sexual in 1983 (target was in 11th grade)
• Relationship was cut-off by target in 2005
• Long term abuse
• During her adolescent life, she reflects that she sought attention from older men
• Her father was absent in her own life
• Recognized a grooming process
• The teacher/rapist was an award-winner
• The targets were kids who feel invisible (self-worth)
• People thought the relationship was weird, but didn't act
• mom and friends didn't say anything
• When engaged in sexual 'relationship'. she was in a role of pleaser
• Relationship continues into college
• Two other girls come forward, their testimony was helped by her own
• Long recovery period
• Her case was past the statute of limitations
• Feels the school counselor was also to blame
• She voiced concerns in his behavior and was told 'teachers have affairs'
• She never felt safe with him sexually
• He kept her intimidated
• He used alcohol to enable sex
• She felt alone, even in her family
• She gave stats: 4.5 million (1in 10) will experience sexual misconduct by school employee (K-12)

Thinking of ways in which these books connect with the book that I am writing about, Lucky by Alice Sebold, the first book, the target was threatened with her life and was convicted.  The second book is harder to find connections.  That is, the experiences are vastly different.  However, her reflection on her experience (mostly discussed in class) was where I can see similarities.  The target, like the other stories that we've discussed, had great difficulty with recovery.  Perhaps even more so, given that this was long term abuse that started when she was a young girl. 

Working towards how I'm writing my paper, though, I beginning to notice aspects that are intertwining throughout these stories.  The difficulty for loved ones understanding or being involved, the difficulty in recovery, the long period of time that passes before the writing/publishing of the book, the myriad experiences from acquaintance to stranger, and more.  These books have been challenging the tropes that we as a society have come to accept--and I find this to be the most powerful aspect.