I’d like to introduce you to Wren Addison from my latest release, Carnal Knowledge. Wren is a young woman in her twenties, separated from her husband and working as an assistant at a busy legal firm. Struggling to pick up the pieces after her husband’s infidelity, she has grown into a person that holds friends at arm’s length, unable to trust even the most innocent friendship. Often finding herself alone, she does opt to violate the terms of her probation once in a while and go out with her office mate, Lily, for a few drinks.
I think many women will see themselves in Wren. After disaster hits, Wren knows how she should act, how society tells her to behave, but it doesn’t stop her from feeling emotions that only further cause her to withdraw into herself and decide to avoid the imagined shame of her position and pretend nothing ever happened. As a society, women are told how to feel, act, dress, and to hold our heads high on one hand and to be quiet and know our place when it all goes wrong. At some point, Wren decides that she’s tired of being told what to do and feel, rolling her eyes at her ex-husband when he becomes indignant that she didn’t call him to protect her.
Carnal Knowledge is a story of one hurting woman that is forced to face her fears or let them drown her. Wren looks up from the pits and must decide if she will let a stranger dictate her life and possibly her death, or if she is simply sick to death of it and will stand up and fight- even if she is on her own. I think women will be able to relate to this. The ache to fit in and be accepted, wanted, and the need to be strong and determined when it’s a risk.
In the end, I believe Wren discovers that it’s okay to be on your own. It’s ok not to be on your own. It’s her life, and despite it all, only she can live it. Wren is strong when she didn’t know she could be. I believe that there is a bit of this in all of us, and I hope that as women Wren can stand in the darkness and remind us all of one thing: It’s okay not to be okay.
I hope you enjoy getting to know Wren as much as I enjoyed telling her story.