Spousal abuse at heart of ‘Little Night’

Sisters Clare and Anne were close growing up, but haven’t had anything to do with one another for more than 10 years — and for good reason.

Clare was sent to jail for attacking Anne’s abusive husband. She was trying to protect Anne and defend her niece and nephew, but when her sister takes the stand at the trial, she doesn’t stand up for Clare. In fact, she lies for her husband and is the reason that Clare goes to jail.

Convicted for assault, Clare serves two long years in jail, and when she returns to regular society nothing feels the same. Everything has changed — her relationship with her boyfriend Paul has suffered irreparable damage, and her friends have all shied away from her over the years. Alone, and struggling with her own conflicted emotions, Clare’s passion for birding, which she does in the hidden wilds of Central Park and surrounding New York City, is the one thing that brings her peace and fulfillment.

Clare is trying her best to put the pain of her sister’s betrayal behind her. Her relationship with Paul is back on track, as they are working out their problems and moving forward again.

Then one day, out of the blue, a note from Anne’s daughter Margarita (Grit) turns up on Clare’s doorstep, with the daughter following shortly behind. Once again, everything in Clare’s life changes.

As family secrets slowly resurface, Clare finds she must help Grit come to terms with all that has happened to her family, and the two seem to be making progress when a mysterious visitor begins to haunt their lives.

In “Little Night,” author Luanne Rice has created a novel that is filled with emotion, strength and courage. The subject of spousal abuse is difficult, but Rice cuts through the layers of protectiveness the victims often weave to produce a story that is intriguing as well as suspenseful.