Beautiful Broken Things (Beautiful Broken Things, #1)

by Sara Barnard

I’d thought of violence as being something simple. Awful, but simple. A violent man and a child who bore the brunt of it. I hadn’t even considered the framework that supported it, allowed it to happen in the first place. The blind eyes turned, the excuses made, the insidious lies whispered into the ear of a child so desperate for love they mistook a gentle tone for truth.

A violent dad who repaired damaged fairy ornaments. A broken girl who kept them on display.

A house of cards on the verge of collapsing. She’d already been pummelled by closed fists and someone else’s rage, and it had broken her.

It occurred to me that being able to smile so soon after crying was something you learned.

Yes, she’s a patient, but she’s not your patient. So for God’s sake, don’t treat her like one.’