Circumstance of Conception

It had been a good day for Grace Mulligan. A counselor at a Baltimore women's shelter, she had finally convinced her client, Abigail Winter, to leave her abusive husband. Hurrying to her car, eager to return to the comfort of her own suburban home, she is taken completely unaware by the brutal rapist lurking in the shadowed parking lot.Waking from a coma two weeks later, Grace finds that her life has changed forever. Though her husband, Jackson, has faithfully remained at her side, she soon realizes that the atrocious crime committed against her has not only left her physically battered and spiritually bereft, but has created an abyss in their marriage. The rift grows wider and deeper when Grace discovers that as a result of the attack, she is pregnant. While the police launch a full-scale investigation to apprehend the perpetrator, Grace's struggle to regain her life becomes an emotional maelstrom as the instinct to protect her unborn child clashes with her need to preserve her family. Irene Louise writes with penetrating insight as she examines the dynamics of a relationship in the aftermath of a devastating crime. This is carefully crafted storytelling at its best. The intimate observations of her characters reveal the conflicts in human nature as a world shattered by violence is slowly rebuilt.