Broken and Breaking Free

By Amy Fillion

Is it possible to transcend the boundaries of the life you were born into, and if so, what will you sacrifice?

Susan Dubois is the youngest member of a poor French-Canadian Catholic family residing in a small and uniform central New Hampshire town in the 1950s. From a young age, this God of her parents’ fills her with extreme trepidation.



Susan has been taught that, as a child, it is your duty to obey your parents—never are you to question authority. Yet, when her father loosens the belt on his slight frame—reeking of alcohol and cigarettes—to use against her beloved brother, Charlie, Susan is engulfed with heart-wrenching confliction.



Charlie is four years her senior and has taken it upon himself to protect his sister to the best of his ability. Are his efforts sufficient in sheltering her from their father’s ferocity? Who will protect him?



Immerse yourself in Susan’s world as she becomes a woman, learning what it truly means to embrace humanity while discovering how circumstances and experiences, as well as the people placed into one’s life, can break us—or save us.