Background for Night Cries
(a domestic thriller by Thelma Mariano)
The statistics are startling. One in four women in North America will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. (Every two minutes, a female is raped somewhere in the United States alone.) 60% of these women are under the age of 17, and 80% of the assaults occur in their home. Perpetrators are often known, even trusted relatives or acquaintances. Only 6% of such crimes is ever reported.
We all know that sexual abuse is rampant across the world. What is less frequently discussed are its long-term effects.
Victims are afraid to speak up. If they do, they run the risk of being met with disbelief and denial. In silence, they carry feelings of anger, shame, unworthiness and even guilt into the rest of their lives. This affects their relationships with others, their careers and most importantly, how they feel about themselves.
I myself was sexually assaulted in my late teens (a date rape) and never told a soul, believing it was somehow my fault for being alone with this person. It traumatized me.
As a novelist, I wrote Night Cries to explore how two sisters navigate their lives after years of teenage sexual abuse. (The abuse itself is based on a true story which I read about.) The narrative of this book takes place twelve years later, when these women are in their twenties. They are estranged from each other and living in different cities.
Night Cries is about these women’s journeys back to wholeness and each other.
I hope this ebook will both entertain and inspire you.
— Thelma Mariano
Where to find Night Cries: