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The Bent Tree Path, Book One: A Secret Trail of Tears
From two different war-time eras in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Lena, a Scots-Irish-and Cherokee farmgirl from a loving family who marries young, and Becca, a teenaged single mother lost in a dysfunctional suburban family, must escape their abusive homes to save themselves and their children, but face larger obstacles that threaten to ensnare them in vicious cycles of shame and secrecy.
In this first book of The Bent Tree Path series, A Secret Trail of Tears, Becca and Lena live in two different eras—one during the Vietnam War protest era of the 1970s through the recovery movement of the 1980s, the other before and during World War I and through the Great Depression. Each is snared in a vicious cycle of abuse, and must save not only themselves, but their children. And their children's children. And so on. Will it ever end? What will it take?
The 1920s roared nearby, but not In, Lena Burriss. Bucolic farm life in rural Maryland hadn’t prepared Lena for a marriage with domestic violence, but she would escape it to save her children. Time was not on her side, as children grow quickly. Neither were finances, cultural norms, the law, nor the Great Depression. Finding strength in her Cherokee heritage, nearly lost after the Indian Removal, and in associations with influential women in government, could make a difference--but will it be in time? Will it be enough?
Jump forward fifty years. Becca, a love- and peace-seeking teen, loses her way during the Vietnam War protest era. After becoming a single mother at fifteen, she must embrace a battle of her own—to create a better life for them both. She hasn’t a clue what it will take, nor what forces work within and around her to keep them ensnared.
How do these two lives intersect?
A veil of secrecy covered oppression and abuse from the Great Indian Removal to the Recovery Movement in the late 20th century, creating fertile ground for shame and further victimization. The Bent Tree Path, Book One, is a work of historical fiction that follows the lives of two women bent on escaping from—and changing—this cyclic snare.
What will it take to break the veil of secrecy? Can the cycle be broken?
Over 24 million people participated in the Metoo movement. The fallout of ethnic oppression, domestic and sexual abuse is widespread and calls for our attention even today. But what happens once our eyes are open to the injustice around us? What happens once we admit to being a victim? Is there a way to overcome such trauma—enough to truly thrive? Enough, and in time for, our children to escape the snare? Join the fictional journey of several generations of women who learn what it costs to keep and to break the silence that too often follows oppression and abuse. Begin your journey with the women of The Bent Tree Path, Book One.
Stay tuned for The Bent Tree Path, Book Two, to continue the journey in women's fiction--forward, back and deeper, exploring ancestry, intergenerational complexity, and what it takes to find wholeness and health after victimization and shame.
The author, Joan T. Warren, is a retired occupational therapist and addictions minister. She brings to her experience both heart and soul, with a compelling story that resounds through generations and ages. Understanding the dynamics of recovering from being a victim of abuse and neglect, the author affirms what is good at heart and relationships and, in so doing, inspires readers into a healthier journey for their own lives and the world around.
Trigger Sensitivity awareness for sexual situations, sexual, physical and verbal abuse and neglect, domestic violence, child molestation, Cherokee heritage, Indian Affairs Bureau, alcohol and illegal drug use, toxic faith, Christianity and spirituality.
In this first book of The Bent Tree Path series, A Secret Trail of Tears, Becca and Lena live in two different eras—one during the Vietnam War protest era of the 1970s through the recovery movement of the 1980s, the other before and during World War I and through the Great Depression. Each is snared in a vicious cycle of abuse, and must save not only themselves, but their children. And their children's children. And so on. Will it ever end? What will it take?
The 1920s roared nearby, but not In, Lena Burriss. Bucolic farm life in rural Maryland hadn’t prepared Lena for a marriage with domestic violence, but she would escape it to save her children. Time was not on her side, as children grow quickly. Neither were finances, cultural norms, the law, nor the Great Depression. Finding strength in her Cherokee heritage, nearly lost after the Indian Removal, and in associations with influential women in government, could make a difference--but will it be in time? Will it be enough?
Jump forward fifty years. Becca, a love- and peace-seeking teen, loses her way during the Vietnam War protest era. After becoming a single mother at fifteen, she must embrace a battle of her own—to create a better life for them both. She hasn’t a clue what it will take, nor what forces work within and around her to keep them ensnared.
How do these two lives intersect?
A veil of secrecy covered oppression and abuse from the Great Indian Removal to the Recovery Movement in the late 20th century, creating fertile ground for shame and further victimization. The Bent Tree Path, Book One, is a work of historical fiction that follows the lives of two women bent on escaping from—and changing—this cyclic snare.
What will it take to break the veil of secrecy? Can the cycle be broken?
Over 24 million people participated in the Metoo movement. The fallout of ethnic oppression, domestic and sexual abuse is widespread and calls for our attention even today. But what happens once our eyes are open to the injustice around us? What happens once we admit to being a victim? Is there a way to overcome such trauma—enough to truly thrive? Enough, and in time for, our children to escape the snare? Join the fictional journey of several generations of women who learn what it costs to keep and to break the silence that too often follows oppression and abuse. Begin your journey with the women of The Bent Tree Path, Book One.
Stay tuned for The Bent Tree Path, Book Two, to continue the journey in women's fiction--forward, back and deeper, exploring ancestry, intergenerational complexity, and what it takes to find wholeness and health after victimization and shame.
The author, Joan T. Warren, is a retired occupational therapist and addictions minister. She brings to her experience both heart and soul, with a compelling story that resounds through generations and ages. Understanding the dynamics of recovering from being a victim of abuse and neglect, the author affirms what is good at heart and relationships and, in so doing, inspires readers into a healthier journey for their own lives and the world around.
Trigger Sensitivity awareness for sexual situations, sexual, physical and verbal abuse and neglect, domestic violence, child molestation, Cherokee heritage, Indian Affairs Bureau, alcohol and illegal drug use, toxic faith, Christianity and spirituality.
618 pages, Paperback
Published September 7, 2024
3 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Joan T. Warren
3 books7 followersAuthor, Joan T. Warren, retired from occupational therapy but just can't stop spreading health, inspiration and tidbits for life.. . . via story.
Because story reaches hearts, where we most need a loving touch.
An addictions minister in her early adulthood, she brings to her OT experience both heart and soul. Understanding the dynamics of recovering from abuse and neglect, and what it takes to create a healthy family life, she's experienced generations of blessings.
She affirms what is good at heart and relationships and, in so doing, inspires readers into a healthier journey for their own lives and the world around.
Whether by fiction, guided journals, children's literature or blogging, Joan enjoys using STORY to help us drop our masks, connect and find inspiration. She hopes to give wings to imagination and lead future generations to a better life and world.
Because story reaches hearts, where we most need a loving touch.
An addictions minister in her early adulthood, she brings to her OT experience both heart and soul. Understanding the dynamics of recovering from abuse and neglect, and what it takes to create a healthy family life, she's experienced generations of blessings.
She affirms what is good at heart and relationships and, in so doing, inspires readers into a healthier journey for their own lives and the world around.
Whether by fiction, guided journals, children's literature or blogging, Joan enjoys using STORY to help us drop our masks, connect and find inspiration. She hopes to give wings to imagination and lead future generations to a better life and world.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 7, 2024
The Bent Tree Path is about two young mothers. Each is faced with problems, due to the men in their lives and the choices they have made. Lacking both money and education, they take whatever jobs they can find to survive.
Lena is a young mother with three children in the 1920’s whose main occupation is farm work. She walks out in an abusive marriage and can’t seem to get the legal help she desperately needs. She seeks wisdom from older women in her life, and traces her heritage back to Native Americans, who keep their culture alive, but in secret.
Becca grows up in the swinging 60’s, a teen mom that fights to both raise her child and finish high school. Attitudes about single mothers have changed, but that doesn’t make her journey any easier. After being offered a job in a drug and alcohol abuse ministry, she discovers a strength she didn’t know she had, and is able to confront her past.
Like real life itself, once they surpass one obstacle, another one arises. This book is a true page-turner. I could not put it down!
Note: I usually don’t read books involving domestic violence, but this story is incredibly insightful about the aftermath of abuse.
This would make a great book club selection - there are a lot of discussion points.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book as a beta reader
Lena is a young mother with three children in the 1920’s whose main occupation is farm work. She walks out in an abusive marriage and can’t seem to get the legal help she desperately needs. She seeks wisdom from older women in her life, and traces her heritage back to Native Americans, who keep their culture alive, but in secret.
Becca grows up in the swinging 60’s, a teen mom that fights to both raise her child and finish high school. Attitudes about single mothers have changed, but that doesn’t make her journey any easier. After being offered a job in a drug and alcohol abuse ministry, she discovers a strength she didn’t know she had, and is able to confront her past.
Like real life itself, once they surpass one obstacle, another one arises. This book is a true page-turner. I could not put it down!
Note: I usually don’t read books involving domestic violence, but this story is incredibly insightful about the aftermath of abuse.
This would make a great book club selection - there are a lot of discussion points.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book as a beta reader
September 8, 2024
Whew, what a read.
The life stories of two women, Lena and Becca, each from a different decade will burrow deep into your heart. They each bore considerable suffering, yet their lives carried forward, sometimes with feelings of despair, other times with a ray of confident hope. Through their journeys, their faith grew deep roots as did their courage to take stands against abuse. They fought to protect their children and passed on wisdom and desire to stop the cycle of abuse.
Lena and Becca become very real, the reader is well versed with their back stories and walks along with them through the many difficult decisions they must make.
Containing many sensitive topics, one might feel tinges of triggers, though the story is encouraging with ways to overcome and be edified.
Well done to the author.
The life stories of two women, Lena and Becca, each from a different decade will burrow deep into your heart. They each bore considerable suffering, yet their lives carried forward, sometimes with feelings of despair, other times with a ray of confident hope. Through their journeys, their faith grew deep roots as did their courage to take stands against abuse. They fought to protect their children and passed on wisdom and desire to stop the cycle of abuse.
Lena and Becca become very real, the reader is well versed with their back stories and walks along with them through the many difficult decisions they must make.
Containing many sensitive topics, one might feel tinges of triggers, though the story is encouraging with ways to overcome and be edified.
Well done to the author.
October 3, 2024
Wow! So much depth in the writing. Relatable to any woman who is a survivor of physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. In Becca’s story, the emotional abuse she inflicted upon herself was a painful reality! For Lena, the resolve and determination she displays is a stark contrast.
I give this book 4 stars because I struggled with trying to tie their stories together. Don’t give up, though. It’s a beautiful story of how GOD truly cares for us when we yield our will to His, even if it takes years!
I give this book 4 stars because I struggled with trying to tie their stories together. Don’t give up, though. It’s a beautiful story of how GOD truly cares for us when we yield our will to His, even if it takes years!
October 1, 2024
The most well written complex story I have read.
A very engaging story about some sensitive topics that many have lived and experienced.
Written with a remarkable sensitivity and balance.
I am looking forward to part 2.
May we find our healing through faith and Love.
Thank you Joan.
A very engaging story about some sensitive topics that many have lived and experienced.
Written with a remarkable sensitivity and balance.
I am looking forward to part 2.
May we find our healing through faith and Love.
Thank you Joan.
December 19, 2024
The Bent Tree Path Book 1: A Secret Trail of Tears is a gritty take on a gritty, sensitive subject, rarely openly discussed in Christian circles. This is especially true when written from the twin views of forgiveness and ensuring abusers of all kinds and stripes cannot continue abusing, by reporting them to the authorities. Reporting them, not out of malice but out of a sense of responsibility towards the abused and the abuser, whilst being obedient to God.
Seen from the perspective of two women living in the same country but in different times and therefore with different cultural and social mores, one theme is constant: the abuse and the necessity of "keeping up appearances," that encourages continuing abuse.
The tough topic of abuse- no matter how sensitively well portrayed made me stop reading ever so often and more than once, I was tempted to stop reading for good. However, I'm glad I persevered.
With sensitivity and rare tact, without being preachy, the author embarked on the healing journey of one of the protagonists, Becca. Each aspect of her journey to healing is presented wisely, compassionately, without judgement and without any syrupy sympathy but with the empathy and wisdom of God, that brings healing, whilst not overlooking sin and wrongdoing.
What is unique about this book, and I love that, is that Joan Warren simply shows the true Father heart of God for the hurting while encouraging us to hold the abuser accountable not just before God, but also by the law of the land, if there is evidence of continuing abuse. No where does she suggest that forgiving and forgetting equals lack of accountability to people, God and the law. A very necessary step towards dealing with abuse or indeed all sin in a biblical fashion.
Buy this book, but be aware that it deals with a very tough topic that hitherto has very wrongly been swept under the carpet in Christian circles. If need be, receive professional assistance if you've faced abuse of any kind. The stark narratives of abuse within Christian circles do need to be addressed in a godly manner, without judgement, but with compassion and justice and holiness (not a holier-than-thou attitude). This book achieves that. It's not a feel- good book in one sense, but in another, it is a book that deals with becoming whole, with God’s help.
I received a free ARC copy for my review, which is given without any coercion/incentive of any kind.
Seen from the perspective of two women living in the same country but in different times and therefore with different cultural and social mores, one theme is constant: the abuse and the necessity of "keeping up appearances," that encourages continuing abuse.
The tough topic of abuse- no matter how sensitively well portrayed made me stop reading ever so often and more than once, I was tempted to stop reading for good. However, I'm glad I persevered.
With sensitivity and rare tact, without being preachy, the author embarked on the healing journey of one of the protagonists, Becca. Each aspect of her journey to healing is presented wisely, compassionately, without judgement and without any syrupy sympathy but with the empathy and wisdom of God, that brings healing, whilst not overlooking sin and wrongdoing.
What is unique about this book, and I love that, is that Joan Warren simply shows the true Father heart of God for the hurting while encouraging us to hold the abuser accountable not just before God, but also by the law of the land, if there is evidence of continuing abuse. No where does she suggest that forgiving and forgetting equals lack of accountability to people, God and the law. A very necessary step towards dealing with abuse or indeed all sin in a biblical fashion.
Buy this book, but be aware that it deals with a very tough topic that hitherto has very wrongly been swept under the carpet in Christian circles. If need be, receive professional assistance if you've faced abuse of any kind. The stark narratives of abuse within Christian circles do need to be addressed in a godly manner, without judgement, but with compassion and justice and holiness (not a holier-than-thou attitude). This book achieves that. It's not a feel- good book in one sense, but in another, it is a book that deals with becoming whole, with God’s help.
I received a free ARC copy for my review, which is given without any coercion/incentive of any kind.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews