Shame By Proxy

Lowe’s contemporary fiction is an unforgettable, realistic, and ultimately heartbreaking story of revenge, courage and spiritual growth–– Wade Malone has returned to the harsh poverty of his Indiana home of Taylorville to hide out from his recent past deeds, and within one day he places his daughter, Mattie, on display in a most humiliating, public way. This is not the first abuse seventeen-year-old Emma Connor has witnessed, and this violence triggers her and her best friend Jolene to seek revenge on Wade. Fortunately for Emma, she lives under the care of her Grandma Rose, who teaches her the ways of being a healer––things that Grandma learned from a Mayan shaman years ago. Grandma recognizes Emma is to come into her own understanding and greater wisdom with their town’s dark forces of violence and power. Along their way to retribution, Emma and Jolene suffer the difficult and deadly consequences of karmic law. It is a justice where fighting violence with violence only produces more violence and the rules of power appear antithetical. It is only when Emma engages her extraordinary healing practices that she is able to discover the unexpected depths in herself, what it means to have compassion for another, and what it takes to break the cycle of violence. The question is, at what cost does Emma pay before understanding her role in the struggle?