Sylvie Denied

Deborah Clark Vance

Feb 2021 · Gatekeeper Press

About this ebook

As she enters adulthood in the turbulent 1970s, Sylvie thinks the way to change a violent world is to become a peaceful person. Yet she slowly sees how a childhood trauma thwarts her peaceful intentions and leads her to men with a dark side – including Enzo, the man she marries. Even as his behavior becomes increasingly volatile, she believes she can make things better with love and understanding. But finally living in terror. Sylvie must find a way to escape with her daughter and a way to claim her place in the world.

About the author

After leaving her family home and respectable birthplace, Deborah Clark Vance set out to find what made the world tick. Inspired by Thoreau’s advice to simplify, she explored self-sufficient living. She learned to identify edible plants and medicinal herbs, gaining confidence that she could survive in the wild as long as there was a woods and the weather wasn’t too cold. She attended the University of Life where she learned to cherish those who prefer truth. She raised four children and cobbled together a living by selling paintings and freelance articles, copyediting and translating, selling plants and designing gardens, working on radio documentaries and a kids’ TV program, teaching at an outpatient program and finally as a university professor after earning a PhD in Intercultural Communication at Howard University. Her family and friends near and far live with her in her heart. This is her first novel.