New novel speaks to lasting effects of child abuse
Brooklyn BookBeat
New York-based writer Staci M. Weems takes inspiration from her own painful life experiences to tell the story of a girl on a life-changing journey to find herself in the new novel, “Closed Doors” (published by AuthorHouse).
Set in New York, “Closed Doors” follows Mona, a young woman growing up in Brooklyn who struggles to cope with an abusive father and mentally ill mother. Her five siblings face their own set of problems, and the whole family is eventually torn apart by violence and addiction.
Throughout the story, Mona is forced to put many of her dreams and aspirations on hold, but she never stops trying to achieve them. “I based my book about my life and what I had to endure growing up and learning much of life on my own,” Weems writes. “Me and my five siblings had to watch my mom suffer with mental depression and deal with the fact that three of us had different dads. In dealing with the issues I had to endure, I still pushed and pressed forward later on. It may have taken a little bit of time for me to get it right, but once I did, I could not stop.”