How Shame and Vulnerability Can Connect Us to Characters

By Bonnie Randall

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)

Brene’ Brown said “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”

Hold onto that quote. It is going to be an important anchor as we dive into some character analysis and contrasts between two highly successful pieces of Domestic Noir: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Wife Between Us by the literary team of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.

Each of these novels has much to be proud of, and each has an enthusiastic fan base. For the purposes of this article—on how shame and vulnerability can connect us to characters—it will be very clear that one of these novels just didn’t cut it for me. In that, I beg you to remember that reading is a subjective experience, and that my opinion is merely one grain of sand on an endless beach.

Now here we go.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com