Lois Barrett addresses subject of domestic abuse in new book
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Harrisburg author Lois Barrett is tackling the issue of domestic abuse in her new novel "A Love Story: Shuugh God and Lulu."
Living in Pankeyville after living several years in Texas, Barrett switched course in her typically historic fiction to address a universal problem.
"It's about an older couple that gets married late in life. He has a temper she doesn't know about," Barrett said.
Barrett says her main characters come from different worlds. His is in Texas. She is a northerner. Each subscribe to a different faith and each has the ability to hurt the other.
"The woman's got a mouth on her and the man has a fist on him. She sets him off every once in a while," Barrett said.
The book opens with a graphic beating and flashes back to six years earlier. The couple has been married, divorced and remarried more than once. The two can't seem to stay together, but neither can they remain apart.
"It's a love story of a relationship about two people trying to get along and just aren't able to," Barrett said.
Barrett said she draws in part on her own life and the book was not an easy one to write.
"It was extremely difficult for me to write. I put it down several times. But it kind of serves as a closure to me," Barrett said.
She has decided abuse is related to control and both parties in a relationship need to relinquish control in order to find harmony.
Though she draws on her own life experience she said the book remains fiction.
"Don't get any idea it's my life," Barrett said.
The book is or will be available at Book Emporium in Harrisburg and Barrett plans to sell it at fall festivals.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at http://bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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