A New Tale of Domestic Violence
In “Refuge,” her most recent book, Nanci LaGarenne, an East Hampton author, has delved deeply into difficult issues faced by many women, including more than one might think here on the East End.
But, Ms. LaGarenne believes, she has come up with a story that readers will find inspirational. Released in July, “Refuge” follows “Cheap Fish,” a fanciful Montauk-based tale of a commercial fisherman, a floating bordello of mermaids, and a murder, and an as-yet-unpublished story called “Promised Land” about a circle of women in Amagansett’s Lazy Point.
In the newest book, her characters have left abusive marriages and childhoods behind and banded together as they create new lives. The author was inspired both by events in her own life and her time at the Retreat, the domestic violence agency in East Hampton, where she worked as a child-care coordinator and covered the hotline at night.
“That really changed me in a lot of ways,” she said, calling the stories the women told her “heartwrenching.”
“It was very eye-opening for me. It was tough work, and very fulfilling.” She became passionate about spreading the awareness of domestic violence and abuse issues.
When she and her sister were molested as children, Ms. LaGarenne said, “no one talked about that stuff; no one had the tools.” Her sister had implored her to address the topic of child sexual abuse in a work of nonfiction, but she decided that a realistic but fictional story would be the way to go.
“Refuge” is dedicated to her sister and to “all the brave women who escaped from abuse,” whom the author calls “beautiful warriors.” It tells the tale of Dr. Rain Taylor, a therapist and a volunteer at a women’s shelter who, at a crossroads in her own life, buys and renovates a brownstone and takes in four female boarders.
“They become sort of this little family, and they are all healing from different things that happened to them. In that, a lot of things happen,” Ms. LaGarenne said.
One of the women was abused as a child. “The character is not my sister, and it isn’t me, but that part of the story is dead-on. . . . I think there are so many people who will feel validated by it.”
The book deals with blind faith, forgiveness, guilt and shame, loyalty, redemption, friendship, and sisterhood, she said. “One bad person can change your life, and one good person can restore you and uplift you. I guess the theme is finding solace and happiness again, and having faith that the bad people don’t win.”
“There’s justice and there’s validation. The women move on and do well,” the author said. They “trade in the cards they were dealt, and it’s a whole new game.”
The latter chapters take place in Ireland, where two of the women travel and connect with another female friend. It’s a country Ms. LaGarenne knows well and loves. She talks of the “history there, and all the magic and beauty,” and evokes all of those things and a strong sense of place in that section of the book.
To self-publish “Refuge,” Ms. LaGarenne founded a publishing company, Blue Bottle Press. While the book can be found on Amazon, she has made sure it is available at local independent bookstores, including Canio’s in Sag Harbor, Burton’s in Greenport, BookHampton, and Montauk’s Tale of Two Sisters bookshop, where she will read from “Refuge” on Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.