Widow Mountain

Abstract

Abstract “Do you want freedom or peace?” So asks Leanore, a healer and protector of the women who seek her services. Growing up in a violent home, Leanore knows what abuse looks like in all its subtleties and iterations. The trauma of witnessing the violence of her father shaped her world view. Having sworn she will never suffer the same fate as her mother, she is horrified to find in marrying Charlie she has married a carbon copy of her father. She enlists her sister, Nadine, to help her escape. But when the plan goes awry, leaving her sister dead, and her husband Charlie, barely clinging to life, she makes a run for it. She finds herself on Widow Mountain, a world within a world, a sanctuary devoid of men and a place for women to heal. There she meets Ora, an elderly woman, and the sage of the mountain, who teaches her a different route to freedom. It has been nearly half a century since Leanore stumbled up Widow Mountain looking for refuge. Nearly as many since she inherited her place as sage and protector from Ora. Now, it is time for Leanore to move on. She can feel it in her bones. But first, she must find the new heir to the mountain. And she must settle one final score with the man who still haunts her.