Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Other Woman
    The Other Woman
    The Other Woman
    Ebook364 pages5 hours

    The Other Woman

    By Abigail Van Alyn

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Anna Sheffield is an accomplished sculptor from a wealthy New England family. Before the rape, the world she knew was one of beauty, love and order. But one spring evening in San Francisco’s Mission District she was assaulted and raped by three men—three men who haunt her, but whose faces she can’t remember even now, two years later. Her work, her friends, her lover have all disappeared into a suffocating fog. She’s sought help from prominent psychiatrist Robert Buchanan, a specialist in sexual trauma, and she blames herself when they seem to be going nowhere. While she imagines a Robert of wisdom and compassion, the real one seems full of tricks and evasions. Or is she just hopelessly lost in a place no one can ever find?

    For his part, Robert finds Anna maddeningly resistant. His approach, shaped by the work of Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich, is to provoke action, will, and surrender to life’s driving forces. Anna’s patrician reserve is the obstacle here, he’s sure of it. While he fights to break through to the anger he believes will free her, memories from his own violent past bubble up. But that’s just more fuel for the fire. In his moral universe, guilt and innocence don’t come into it. To be a strong swimmer in life’s raging torrents, that’s what matters. It’s how he’s escaped the poverty of his youth and triumphed over his classmates at Princeton and Harvard. It’s how he’s beaten the odds, that he might be discovered and punished. Of course, he keeps all this to himself. The small-minded people around him aren’t ready. Except Anna. Why won’t she let him in?

    While these two struggle, the agent of their release is on her way. A patient from Robert’s past, Michele Palmer, barges into their session demanding to be seen. All black lace, piercings and spectacular tattoos, she’s young, she’s angry, and she has something big against the doctor. Although Robert furiously rejects her, she’s gotten a look at Anna, and her quick mind never misses a trick. Here’s money. Here’s power. The money and power she needs to get to Robert. Because she has evidence, evidence she’s stolen from him and kept all the years since their time together. Evidence of Robert’s criminal past, that she means to use to get what she deserves.

    Using her baby as bait, Michele contrives to meet Anna, hoping for a gullible partner in getting revenge. But even her fevered imagination couldn’t predict who Anna turns out to be, once she’s released from fear. Robert has been right all along—when it escapes its shadowy confines, the force of the unconscious can’t be contained. Magnetized by Michele’s wild energy, Anna is drawn into her fierce vendetta. And when Anna learns what’s driving her, the two women form an alliance that leads them deep into Robert’s past, and into the darkest corners of human crazing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbigail Van Alyn
    Release dateJul 18, 2016
    ISBN9781310976445
    The Other Woman
    Author

    Abigail Van Alyn

    I was born in New York City, raised in Greenville and Charleston, SC, and spent most of my adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area. An early career in New York journalism was followed by thirty years in the theater, acting on stage and in feature film and television. For ten years I was a company member of San Francisco’s much-awarded Eureka Theater where, among other notable achievements, the company developed Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. On a parallel track, I coach business leaders in communications skills.I've had two plays produced. In the Wilderness/In the Zoo, a play for children, toured northern California schools and children’s hospitals and was broadcast on San Francisco’s PBS affiliate. And I'm especially proud of Lying to the Holy Spirit, about the works of Anton Chekhov, which was commissioned by Harvard University as part of the first cultural exchange between the US and USSR after glasnost. As pseudonymous George Fletcher I've published two books for young readers, modernizing Roman myths.I live in far northern California at the foot of Mount Shasta, walking, gardening, coaching, and writing plays and long fiction.

    Related to The Other Woman

    Related ebooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Porochista Khakpour on Stephen Dixon: An Excerpt from McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #63

      Aug 4, 2021

      When you really live, and when you really tackle that life in your art, the pages never quite end. The narration might drop out, but the story is still in motion. If done right, the border blurs, the boundaries of life and of art fade into each other

      8 min read

    • Article

      Notes From The Struggle

      Nov 10, 2022

      “That’s the thing,” my friend Tomas said. “They always get it wrong. Every time, they get it wrong. They always get the wrong people. Once we get out of this,” he spread his arms and shook his head, as if to say—This colossal fuck-fest of a mess we’v

      15 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Sophia Shalmiyev

      Dec 20, 2019

      Let us begin at the natural home of all the white-men-are-garbage controversies and go right to the crotch area. The post A Year in Reading: Sophia Shalmiyev appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Flood The World With Beauty

      Nov 1, 2019

      A big literary conference is probably not the best place for a poet dealing with a mental breakdown. But there I was at AWP, skittishly perusing tables at the book fair, under the garish lights of the Minneapolis Convention Center. For two years, par

      8 min read

    • Article

      Now That It’s Come to This

      Jun 3, 2021

      Now That It’s Come to This
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Paper Wasp

      Jun 3, 2019

      The Paper Wasp
      13 min read

    • Article

      A Symposium On The Mysterious

      Sep 1, 2023

      A Symposium On The Mysterious
      24 min read

    • Article

      What We’re Reading This Summer

      Jun 28, 2019

      Atlantic staffers pick 14 books to spend time with this season, including Freshwater, Republic of Spin, Killing and Dying, and more.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Refuge

      May 2, 2017

      Refuge
      7 min read

    • Article

      ‘I’m Not Worried About Fame Or Glory’: Lydia Davis, The Author Who Has Refused To Sell Her Book On Amazon

      Sep 30, 2023

      Lydia Davis is a miniaturist with sizable intentions. Her micro-stories, many just a couple of lines, are constrained in length only; their subject matter might be anything that takes her interest, whether a builder up his ladder, a moment of marital

      5 min read

    • Article

      Nick Laird

      Dec 15, 2017

      I was trying to write like an adult.I had children.I was at the end of something. As I waited at my table by the window for the coffee,I saw that the sirocco had depositeda scrim of dust on the sill overnight,and it was the dark red of powdered blood

      3 min read

    • Article

      Cul-de-Sac

      Dec 1, 2021

      That old rage for order: how my father drove a square mouthed mower over-and-back, over-and-back, each row of neatly trimmed grass cut just like he told his barber: boy’s short, regular. O pioneer, taming this joke bit of prairie, no bindweed or dog

      5 min read

    • Article

      Attention: A Love Story

      Sep 6, 2023

      MY father did not come to England to live with us. He came to die with us. What I didn’t understand was the honour: in the midnight of his life he wanted to be with his daughter who lived 3,000 miles away. He left behind his home, his books and his b

      4 min read

    • Article

      On Our Hands

      Feb 10, 2024

      Ten months, two weeks, and one day ago, on a clear cold day in late October, I set my plastic cup of cocoa down carefully on the Formica tabletop by the window of the ReddiStop, lowered myself to the bench, pulled off my windbreaker, and stuck my can

      19 min read

    • Article

      Bearing Witness

      May 30, 2021

      Lauren Hough is unicorn-level rare: someone who strode on to Twitter cracking witty and street-wise, a sharp-tongued yet strikingly kind presence. She wrote a cracking essay that went, well, pandemic-level viral, was snapped up for a book deal, and h

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Narrow Room

      Sep 12, 2023

      She shakes out the blanket, wraps it around her middle, and sits down. The room is cold and dim and full of quiet. She takes the top book from the stack, and her marker out of the book: Sonnet 49. Against that time (if ever that time come). Against t

      34 min read

    • Article

      The Light We Carry By Michelle Obama Review – Lessons In Life

      Nov 15, 2022

      One afternoon not long after the Obamas had moved into the White House, Michelle organised a playdate for her youngest daughter, Sasha. The children were at their new school and she was worried about how they were settling in. So, in a move recognisa

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Bridle

      Oct 10, 2021

      Saliva pooled on her tongue beneath the rusty depressor. She endured a constant urge to swallow, afraid of choking on her own fluids. The taste of metal and blood are so akin, it is easy to mistake one for the other. This early in the day, blood was

      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Other Woman

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Other Woman - Abigail Van Alyn

      cbook_preview_excerpt.html}ےƑ寠һfYE6GP4dMԫ}" di>b^L1s#,rfkMRq/E8o_|_}}'jzGn^tA.ѫ8^plV}/|uL䓟}s?{a̾}R{Sڐ*T]CK\jS*?/*ػK5Ĺ{M]Spʝ9Vqn=Vw<:EԺI~X{s[!ߊ*%_TA5MGY˪qխẆǿ cvMf MՄ*/ #\h\\|~3g9ys݄:|Yy 'EvÉOdwG_:V_ɌYTŃ-s_q2rgf%|2-'/yFzi7GOv)(Dm>XO?27wS\f8S KO]տx?`x;<:O;]Mku;yrapӥJhK;^_z&v~,T}ݹar۫..nr1dvF7r{RW_u6IS $NuDK.Q]^b#&ݽ?-ͭ^=b7A.<0_2>ls?yj?9<1nj@!g"e-#S/U^|/z駹z/_0mٜ/>eV~ xD^Q]EER۳l>(| A޷9xܾ^a6x3>UYvc/c/c/c/^O>GͳGoγGγGoϳGϳGoгGгGoѳGgޣ?ޣG=z>{}={sC>bT9f>]#PhyJj2  :sxum"^7i/Rv׻]+fĥ9CwO mS/M lF/4 t"O+ʨ[/9_ԍ䡇pF{GW"Лd #_kYfnu'@/.Ҽ4t&|U)|JQ^F Uw @@0rGI k &6ډpm"eosr%*fx* &7J=Y'/V ap^6$R'':64IoweUeP%P¸ba_/a| @4mdzX&(L{xSЭ_͇VJ.;C0rD;:g%"T/̸d9DjberC^Q1#sgN}. \2" H{=Fo3=4;gT$QEo$B%$\B. #F)吩zx!)v'TtiBM \߄t\BWYxpo,9Ʀw(l UMh^^% ݅Ivn%2|^}4vrv,, A98w2T%pU.]b0jfNFQqГȸwYDw0H6O)NsƪD%RN%q~86xAfqnn].K\HRQ` _m{ ;&.k~rDaTkFi0A5eJa44 ;l!vJp6?,W2؟_QܮW @?&WOAdO`SD<z~ڊ52~`H~3l8iB} :_$bnm \# hK*"@F1:29ʵ2T9_ֆQJ7S؜D?n%OJ)P!y .օ$Cz7 83[΂eÈt$qjScWb^c)C*WKbkpE[뻥Y$9 HT/ 9=rR^bs@;A酌 e날v֒WY-i5%?C~1|s|jDTjƦTQ \#<7`ocl$>wL䷲w$P2٣ZӠ bBUA"I0܇&iX"xP@ 2+VS 4dgf}+sD,!y]]Λ@M=ċU*lZ)_PU2w,"Co:}Rz/c|[se 㶚q4f7LԋO/ӦC4u2NXbUթ mGz7 SB/6]@]&*eYS X/OeQHGo$pj8]lW+NMu1dn|ql&iHX(RzϞ}駷6m$q 3~){h))?r OLQsk *\ϐwdf Yvh&߹_vbfškM:.jgMFArXDe"I~P#Iۘ%0 bzal LnkLbfD!LWXOyI0m"0soe26{3Y-8HA-µ-^: qa+.BX43肈ܞa@UήOelݨ.؞K2}A'E u2RthKT2dz91Exvx) F}h@ZP)gYKh, ʈBon^RFPo_Z5>X)2j59`6vkg)\qfQ ܟ]'nWW-0QD_H dC &~+9p's[} FsF$3)NrAVX(@rPe YR&xp8>)N#9.K({Y.dBPhPH[ URĶr\#1` +/ &TA)3l=R9rSڨf-/A_D@ DSQ/"nRNG4բ /Sۋx;HPTF>y2;`#<0N1Qr_0|W?@Lɛ 裱ڢ.5^x5?gB2 _Kh- ,"$5@ |QG(@f7:آad_^2᚜"h_zb]d]v0|f%uQyvZcTvIFSͼ4~?k('@9b_RII4ػ 'mr9q 'Gn!Wx+"GhD\` G޹3ӨD*oX9:WA$i. &wV=Mc"pgyu|-=NZ\%֯]+ 8 \!S9*VbuR#⿡ɥ5 *]#rֵ'7n_u? #(#6y&۸􂢎ƴ+1XxGM/s +oDƳt)r&HMUEZ9J&sCZ)Z;OMʬ;69gX`:)$KՂ\R5TC?WւF*Ѧ;e3fw[H⡎4E=7r؉[Hx?+Kޕ(I<seb֦x4n3eG3lA0aKJKun h)W7#3hv Rjq! 3p$O; '-P·dU^Lڪ 7h}I I^SĆ`XKg˩'{C/k1'gi7˪Dm"H=6j$"M.8S]; ,7m!a4 ,ŀby0kp.%[{vQ!\kVo74X?Tcw\.6cdܮVRe-9{_F9W)/t;6z_~4 [ъQ()t&k9C }C_@XPa0ݹ|DZ N1m|GιXӀbe0Bg@MbSк#:U#(5ɆAOPirdLͨ6%Ҩ%LhTF(K h' 46CZPF\?fkuY=7Iab"q"YO.G̨Cq LQ͙e],ػp~E1H,iDJLfRVJeQlDk kstDɵ| U220g*K!xx ?%-oiG @I7p[BD;V̐3zH/.;I0P*[>ajyC { :egB9o(*)]Qy߶hn_mZ~QYf"V^ 2 Dt{-ޏF86SSk\.9[1k PvҬRw$tݎl>A,w7%s0ӊm},'5ܹAQ#R@g ݇(sgR&C,W1W=4\Uz>4ǃ@5?M)i]np֖,)Byc4&uZ5+d .NDnr+Ibo-tk ݃ASf7ǭto9MDBlŴdFNA6z!9rlۋ`|ojhEꙩڍ)L hQž:v ):R'0DW,!󊜇Iqʇ1jeE&J\ ۃdx(g$4NnSP5(iV ]5aL~i8a2w)3M(Vh F%B9 ,j f `&lR9b@,WCYicsJUlV +,מ2 }'z940ŭ /av2|+D(+gaJi9x-`ox񐓝a12OGOrkqdZ'l b' Swo +g3D3,FiQs%LtE_TXZS1/93ޢ=jy̝gv/WCigr8Ogzck1:TLrx{:?eӎ5N)p=ƈpSaXS@555O}&Ci 20%Oq%XppJ T<"6Caw]fͭv?k~3 M< %@o)e؉#W t3;~ZVc(wlw%2–eg:5L3);M %< Lףe&Qaʶ`WA*:=4왲'.fXAphM7&\U>s=\~snN$_;"Ír]ŪgzTcɍJI2h89p vB~}74LȧmdBI]4 x,2@IƔrQN_!=Ay~-!mт'Z) x`" S-,'&`ȑO@]-D {FV,zf+GTJ8‚Ԥפ$ruEPRj\8Ӓ|B +VX8u`6Ssѿr]aA:N7\<j"j=ODt΋#FjpE %!|Ȥ >gAX~ Ϧz R@p;et=L 7Yd9(zS[m)ԏwj)֑Q>$1mrޓ4 Ҳ8 T*g 4JYM p 10u1f۶Sk0XM'yjBvڅSdK7m j 1#P~_î|)ˈ|pN<&(ǿXףWCdNpp)ҍ),,~PHC^`Me)t1$ivQJ\pZ~D%,\-Oh'qMF4@&jM[**+o=y-ZU zz[ABeWmNi7]WZOG2^eKFŢ&k\{vEKBm̧P#DD\zwHv9Pfi̘рxasqU_jr]'G m(E| 542UxJ'um<*9=M N">.W]W8ZtyuMITh _c= =!&u f=AQ(CyFOǿ-^2pE-|̭LbKZmc{"H(EnKs%#6+IɒaH)dM)˰le1.W:Ц$|AiI"c]'pi-Te\ͤL.̰BMUXIfNxP'\qefX.iΣFU$"'-iJWDL#Bhau8@޹Y MiIPv, >V$lUX~+0~1׮i@͙"MeB`USOAkD7i0ӒLF|C dcXoWWefO;+Z4]{@180GFxl4OgfQ@$sTnk'6*=*5,г 76ݕ[W=fzi*ZBR|?XXWkD ϸr~cY6X7mn=trVEtoy;MprSߜn̺h}oy)o1"YZ% +hU\(؈=cg#O?n-ׂ_lOrmi rO)"4$YQ5zSix5C*XJimnC &u+|7Do]3ǰo$0S֞4@BXsɏ%4& h-uz=UD]CNfg+s,!qrUH`0Q4@9s)PL| 8hӝ ՗&>tgT]ί*hhQ֦ d^猝61v)b[XOtbrz6c+ZMzQS=ٌ+2% A0`m ڿF+~+EA*j1?7^feʈdݕ! {4Af6j LtrE9]`&[d;zҘY9Ĩ-KfTo׵&*hQE.j05N{X&7VۧF*s(*suŨɝAպZU| P^G \Y8pleG].hk#.o.d Nk(H_l_i\B AoƱٴ+jύ+s]3ˢmX={Y衯|H˅dP*l6.c6,Cl/@MQZ[U /OMMh^ڥωyr.cL6Dgbx[}Xb3aLMyMauDO@[|;sM(Ce"4[ZzupC@>顜U*]]t IJp/L,O,(?km h.Ӗ9{VC {{Vmޯ'ɰZӢlJ#ijc\AO3&]~4RiͭrrM>gokϋ}ǴY굛RS uv߶Uiΰk6iDZ~پ:Zq&E@9nZ_&;l*F;ڄqmN#<15*km}T.{kΪG}VsvL~ڼ2Cz< .[oJK>N[:2cZ2<3 :RWX'ه5^Lvʎ#Io_!nSm w ͘uuwwv'W6':5 \B L^ri6sITreyMj$^B^5wޘK &;Ô>N`<6iތ_)Qe10)p@v}{maVSztN@\nwG6_*L>I'|M;W_?3V mn".6EsDShEzɭ^JYuh {Z^'!#SDsfPZEzC=V+WTx\K4h R/p@ªnՠ5 `8#4)0âǪ%1՟!]q:6c)@k (HƚrھyX]5V=`Θ`_)~.j$`BmaS%PTqmDvE>a쀥(炩ei?C,ҟ' DN|?|+v
      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1