Constance Turner
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Behind the closed door of many marriages lurks terrifying abuse, and now there’s a brave new book written by a woman who not only lived through it—but survived and triumphed!
Teen bride and mother Constance Turner is determined to be the perfect spouse for her husband Roy. But shortly after the birth of their child, the man of her dreams becomes the man of her nightmares and their love turns deadly. Jealous and manipulative, Roy’s vicious tormenting grows so cruel that he encourages her to smother her ill father and is unbelieving when she refuses. Violent and abusive, he crushes her self-esteem so that her only recourse is to pretend that everything is fine and hide her pain from the world. But when Roy’s rage targets their grandchild, something finally snaps, and a desperate Constance Turner begins the slow road back to healing—and to herself.
Written as a collection of narrative events, If I Can, You Can, unfolds with undeniable power, painting a heart-wrenching portrait of the vicious pain and betrayal of domestic abuse. A testament to the strength of one extraordinary woman’s spirit, this courageous story offers bold encouragement to all abused women—and to the men who abuse them—to reach for the help they need, to open their hearts and to finally start to heal their lives.
A teenage bride and mother, Constance Turner’s dream of a storybook marriage soon deteriorated into a horror story of abuse by her manipulative husband. She had to bide her time for the sake of her family, before making that leap of faith into the unknown of living by herself, although her psychopathic ex-husband refuses to let her go. Thus, she proved to herself and others that not only it can be done, but, for the sake of health and sanity, it has to be done.
Determined to help others, she wrote this novel from the heart in the hope that anyone who is being subjugated and opressed, will gain the determination to escape that secret, black, evil environment. Divorced for five years, Constance Turner is now independent, free spirited, very happy and proud of her survival.
For more information, please contact Constance Turner at constance@turner-watercolours.co.uk
I have to write my story down, because it’s too horrendous and upsetting for me to say out loud.
It’s too painful, hurtful and brings back too many awful memories for me to be able to talk about, after being forced to keep it quiet for a lifetime, but I want to record it so that my family and friends can understand.
It should also ensure that none of my grandchildren will suffer in this way.
The occasional times that I mentioned what my married life was like, behind closed doors, both to family members and friends, have been met with staring, silent disbelief - rather than giving me the understanding and sympathy that I so desperately needed.
I always put a brave face on, as though nothing was amiss, because I wanted to conform and show the world that our marriage was good
I have been divorced for over four years now, and my ex-husband is still ringing me, calling at the place where I work and offering to do any Odd Jobs that I need doing.
He says that it’s because he’s sorry, and that he just needs to be near me, but I know that it’s because he cant stand his own company, and longs to be back in the fold and security of a family…
He’s also laid down rules about when I can visit my daughter and her family, so that we don’t meet there, but he wants us to continue meeting in secret, thus, he’s still controlling me to some extent.
He believes that I can forgive him and forget what Hell he put me through.
He is still unaware of the depth of harm he caused me, and thinks that I can forget all the dreadful memories he has given me over the years, because he has ‘behaved himself’ (his words) since the divorce.
He’s always been very, very careful to present an angelic appearance to the outside world and meticulous enough to never once give me a witness to his vicious, uncaring, behaviour towards me.
A natural liar – he can talk his way out of any situation, regardless of the actual facts and makes an art out of being an extremely good actor.
For most of my married life I was swung between being frightened of him, and feeling sorry for him, because I knew from the beginning that he was sick in some way. I could tell that he was starved of affection and demanded attention - I just didn’t realize how deep rooted, strong and advanced the sickness was .
