Synopsis:

At the age of 61, Cassandra, a single and peripatetic Brit, was asked to pack up her house and move to Italy to take up the offer of a much-needed job. 15 months later she was made redundant, leaving her unnerved, broke and unable to return home. Her dream of a new life was rapidly turning into a nightmare and, saddled with all her belongings, her antique furniture, over 800 books and her aged Siamese cat she had nowhere to go.

A kind friend offered them sanctuary in a tiny converted former barn in his family’s ‘Borgo’, a cluster of rustic properties grouped around a late-Medieval manor House in the mountains; the beautiful and mysterious Emilian Appenines of northern Italy. There she was befriended and watched over by the owner; an eccentric octogenarian, his household ghosts and 14 semi feral cats.

The experience proved to be challenging yet deeply transformative as she struggled to recover her equilibrium and rebuild her life.

Synopsis:

Since 2006, the MeToo Movement has been rocking society, shedding light on the pervasive and growing darkness of hidden sexual abuse and assault. Olivia, like many when they discovered it, found herself an avid supporter of both the movement and the women who were coming forward with their stories. And like many, she still struggled to use those same words for the experiences of her own life, setting aside her memories and instead focusing on those of others.

As an editor of writing focused on abuse survival, Olivia suddenly began softly thinking those words to herself as she worked on others’ manuscripts, until one day she knew it was time to tell her own story of abuse and assault and what life’s really like on the other side.

This is her story.

Synopsis:

“Some people float—like the velvety filter of an Olan Mills photo—effortless, easy, gentle, delicate. I grind with the graininess of an old-timey Western photo—harsh, serious, rough, and troubled. I think I know why…”

After reuniting with her four-year-old self on the train tracks of her childhood, Rebekah remembers: something happened. Her sordid past nudges her until she dives headfirst into an uninvited flashback, which gives them all permission to surface.

Unveiling one memory with her therapist, Joel, he introduces her to a unique superpower. Rebekah pilots a series of trust-falls with said superpower while navigating cycles of abuse and indefatigable trauma. From a gaslighting fiancé to the bewildering cults she engages with on her travels, every person and each cycle are echoes of Rebekah’s inner turmoil.

While traversing a whirlwind of experiences, Rebekah can’t help but wonder: is she running away from or toward something? Will she ever learn to embrace the dark in order to see the light?

Undeniably raw and fiercely authentic, Mirrors Strike Back is an unpredictable journey through a maze of funhouse mirrors where Mallory repeatedly collides with reflections of her own soul via undeserved betrayal, cultish encounters, racy exchanges, a spectral twist of fate, loss, romantic love, familial love, and finally: unexpected self-love from a spirited heart gifted with superhuman strength.