This is the first book in a trilogy which tells the story of a young South African woman who is abused both physically and mentally through two marriages and the threat of losing her children in a court of law. In The Mirror Breaks, the story begins with Paula Fernandes' first encounter with sexual abuse as a child in coercion into a marriage to a man she does not love.

The abuse in this union is described in detail, and the readers are provided with a chilling portrait of male brutality and innocence betrayed, and also of a family protracted in denial. Damaged both emotionally and physically and standing at the very gates of hell, Fernandes finally finds the courage to extricate herself.

Her escape reads like the pages of a thriller, and the relief is palpable. She has burnt her bridges and has no choice but to move forward.

Take her or leave her, accept her or hate her, but don’t be her judge. She is no less woman, even if she does not fit the conventional idea of what a woman should be. Sometimes it takes the worst kind of pain to bring out the strongest desire of self-determination.

The Mirror Breaks is published by Porcupine Press