Beyond the Truth: Trauma, Choices, and the Cost of Survival
Hanna’s life isn’t perfect. In Beyond the Truth, she faces things that could shatter her completely. She’s caught between the past and the present, trying to find a way to let both coexist — but that isn’t easy.
She’s also navigating a friendship that carries expectations she never asked for, and as readers will see, there’s always a cost when boundaries blur. Every decision she makes ripples outward, affecting not just her but the people she loves most. And perhaps her greatest challenge isn’t surviving those choices — it’s forgiving herself for them.
A Life Shaped by Trauma
Hanna’s story has never been simple. Her parents, the people meant to protect her, were the ones who broke her trust first. Her grandparents stepped in with love, but their presence couldn’t erase the original loss.
Her marriage carried its own fractures. Abuse, subtle and insidious, became the only version of love she understood. Brian never hit her, but his need to protect her — to keep her close and safe — turned into control, and control into harm. He didn’t intend to hurt her, but intent doesn’t erase impact. After his death, Hanna sanctified him in memory, painting him as the perfect husband. But she was only twenty-four — still finding her voice, still learning who she was.
At the prison, working with Richard and the inmates, she faced another side of manipulation. What should have been rehabilitation often turned into exploitation. Once again, she was surrounded by power disguised as care, abuse hidden inside authority.
The Patterns We Normalize
I’m not saying anyone seeks out abuse, but for those who’ve lived inside it — witnessed it, absorbed it — it can start to feel like the norm. You acknowledge it, maybe even name it, but part of you convinces yourself that it will be okay.
That’s the trap. That’s the danger.
Why This Book Was Hard to Write
Beyond the Truth takes a darker path than its predecessor. It’s a story about understanding, acceptance, determination, strength — and breaking. Writing Hanna’s choices broke me at times. I had to be sensitive in how I portrayed her trauma, but I refused to sugarcoat it.
I wanted readers to experience the weight of survival, the cost of silence, the ache of carrying pain alone. Hanna’s story is not just fiction — it’s a mirror for anyone who has ever questioned their worth, their memory, or their right to choose peace.
Beyond the Truth isn’t just about secrets uncovered — it’s about the courage it takes to face the past, the strength it takes to keep moving, and the truth that healing always demands a cost.
The Cost of Confronting Truth
Healing asks us to face memories we’d rather bury. That takes courage, and sometimes it means reopening wounds before they have a chance to close clean.
The Cost of Letting Go
To heal, we often have to release relationships, beliefs, or identities that once defined us — even if they felt safe. Letting go can feel like betrayal, but it’s actually an act of self-preservation.
The Cost of Change
Healing transforms us. And sometimes the people around us don’t recognize, accept, or support the new version. We may lose connections we once believed were permanent.
If you haven’t started Hanna’s journey, begin with The Lies We Whisper. It’s the story of where it all began — the choices Hanna made after Brian, the scars she carried forward, and the lies that shaped the woman she is when Beyond the Truth begins.
The Lies We Whisper is available now at most major retailers, including D&K Books in Michigan and The Inkbound Bookshop & Society in Galway, Ireland.
Beyond the Truth is available now for preorder.