Book Title: ENDURING
Author: Nkechi Pat Nelson
A beautiful yet heartbreaking story. ENDURING is the story of women in search of love, peace and stability but they get quite the opposite―infidelity, abuse, pain and heartache.
A series of unexpected events brings about change, confusion and fear but they have to make a choice, to follow their hearts, get a chance to love, peace and freedom or continue living in pain. This should be an easy choice right? Not really.
The women have reasons for enduring and living in pain. For one,
she wonders what society will say, because society always keeps an eye on women
watching and judging yet it is okay for men to carry on as they see fit.
When Ruth does a fraction of what her husband has been doing
for years, all hell is let loose. She is no longer sure whether to move forward
or continue to endure for the sake of her children and peace. For Ethel, it's
the fear of being hurt again by men. This fear stands in the way when Tim, who
has also endured an unfaithful and manipulative wife crosses paths with her.
The focus of this book cuts across emotional and physical
abuse, not just to women but also to men. It looks at how societal norms cage
us in, not caring about our pain, but encouraging us to keep up a front and pretend
we're okay while we're not.
I like how the author shows us that nothing is really as it
seems and a lot of us are “actually” broken inside but society and religion tie
us down, making us unable to speak up or cry out. The entire book took me on an
emotional rollercoaster and the ending made me lose my mind but I understood
why.
The author covers the topic of emotional and physical abuse in a balanced fashion, by showing different instances of both physical and emotional abuse and also showing that anyone and everyone, men and women can and are subject to these forms of abuse.