Look What You Made Me Do: A Powerful Memoir of Coercive Control

(Paperback)

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"Coercive control may have recently been made llegal in Britain, but not many women dare to open up about it. Helen Walmsley-Johson is an exception" The Times Not all abuse leaves a mark - a powerful memoir of coercive control Helen's first husband controlled her life, from the people she saw to what was in her bank account. He alienated her from friends and family and even from their three daughters. Eventually, he threw her out and she painfully began to rebuild her life. Then, divorced and in her early forties, she met Franc. Kind, charming, considerate Franc. For ten years she would be in his thrall, even when he too was telling her what to wear, what to eat, even what to think. Look What You Made Me Do is her candid and utterly gripping memoir of how she was trapped by a smiling abuser, not once but twice. It is a vital guide to recognising, understanding and surviving this sinister form of abuse and its often terrible legacy. It is also an inspirational account of how one woman found the courage to walk away.

Reviews

Compelling ... A hard book to read, harder I imagine to have written. But absolutely necessary if you want to understand coercive control. Read it. -- Suzanne Moore * Guardian *
Coercive control may have recently been made illegal in Britain, but not many women dare to open up about it. Helen Walmsley-Johson is an exception. * The Times *
At first, Helen Walmsley-Johnson was so desperate to please her boyfriend Franc that she overlooked his exacting standards, his overbearing interest in what she wore and who she saw. But before long, her every move was controlled by the man who claimed to love her. The scariest part How easily such behaviour and worse became her new normal. * You Magazine *
A forensic investigation into how an intelligent and proud forty-three year old woman became trapped in an abusive love affair ... a warming subtle realistic narrative of recovery -- Terri Apter * TLS *
Brilliant and engrossing * David Challen *
A piercingly accurate depiction of being in a controlling relationship and how difficult it is to leave * Dawn Foster *
Powerful -- Jane Garvey * Woman's Hour *

Author Bio

Helen Walmsley-Johnson is the author of the Guardian's 'The Vintage Years' column, which has 65,000 regular readers. She worked for the Daily Telegraph, before joining the Guardian as Alan Rusbridger's PA for seven years, then began her column. Her book about middle-age, The Invisible Woman, was published to great acclaim in 2015. She lives in Rutland.