Brooke Beyfuss

I liked this book much more than Beyfuss's previous novel.
Before You Found Me tells the story of Rowan McNamara who is running from an abusive relationship. While her ex-fiancé is now in jail, she fears for the time he will be paroled. She heads to the home of a friend and meets Lee. Rowan is astonished to see his 11-year old son, Gabriel, who tells Rowan that he has been kept in the basement since his mom died 3 years earlier. Rowan is desperate to protect Gabriel and devises a plan to keep him safe.
Is it ever right to kidnap a child? Yes, if the crime will keep him safe from abuse, both mental and physical! Emotional story, with some predictable outcomes. However, I still liked the overall story.… (meer)

I was really looking forward to reading this book after hearing the author speak about it. Several months passed before I found the time to read it. It was good, but I was disturbed by it, which I suppose is the point!
Avery lives with her family on a compound. One day, her father brings her inside, after she was relegated to live outside for weeks. He tells her that she must help expand the family. Revolted by this, she escapes after a fire destroys the compound.
This is a cult story, but also a coming of age story. I was troubled by Cole, her younger brother, as well as the actual story behind the family.… (meer)

In a Nutshell: Decent enough, but I was expecting it to be more impactful. Some triggering content, but nothing on page except for the aftermath. Good for women’s fiction readers.

Story Synopsis:

After an argument with her abusive fiancé Ethan, twenty-two-year-old Rowan runs away. Having no family escape for her estranged sister Celia, Rowan takes shelter in an old friend’s empty house in a small New England town. Here she meets eleven-year-old Gabriel, the son of her new neighbour Lee. While Lee is friendly and welcoming, Gabriel is more of a mystery, appearing to Rowan only from the basement of his house, often withdrawn and bruised.
When Rowan discovers that Gabriel has been imprisoned in the basement by his own father for almost three years, she makes a daring plan: she will abduct Gabriel and flee to her childhood home in rural Oklahoma. Will their bond be enough to protect them?
The story comes to us in a limited third-person narration.

On paper, the book has plenty to recommend it. As the story of the bond between two abuse survivors and their journey towards safety, the book covers rock-solid themes such as coming-of-age, found family, blood relationships, domestic abuse (parental and partner), foster care, and morality in grey situations. Had the book focussed on these with a more literary approach, it would have been a sureshot winner for me. But it swayed more towards a commercial style and ended up diluting the overall impact.

The initial chunk of the book had me invested on every word. From the time Rowan escaped Ethan to how she landed up in her friend’s house, interacted with Lee and Gabriel, discovered the truth about Gabriel’s situation, and escaped with him, this entire section was written in an intense and impactful way, letting me see the trauma of both the victims first-hand without having any abuse directly on page. That is to say, the beating scenes aren’t written directly, but the aftermath was depicted through severe injuries. Even this was traumatic and not for the sensitive of heart.

Once Rowan and Gabriel settled into the Oklahoma home and two more characters – Rowan’s sister Celia and a local named Dell – were added to the regular cast, things went downhill for me.

… (meer)

4.5⭐️

Battered and bruised twenty-two-year-old Rowan McNamara is fleeing an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Ethan, whose recent act of domestic violence resulted in Rowan’s hospitalization. Rowan is pressing charges this time and is on her way to her inherited family home in Oklahoma to distance herself from Ethan. Rowan is an orphan who grew up in foster care after losing her parents when she was a child. She has an older sister, Celia, with whom she is somewhat estranged. En route to her family home, Rowan spends some time in her old friend Laine’s home in the New England town of Ellisburg where she meets eleven-year-old Gabriel Emerson son of Laine’s neighbor Lee who keeps him locked in a basement. Gabriel is the victim of child abuse and hasn’t stepped out of his house in three years ever since the death of his mother in an accident, for which Lee blames his son.

Rowan decides to escape with Gabriel and manages to take him and run, after a particularly vicious episode that leaves Gabriel seriously injured. The narrative follows Rowan and Gabriel as they settle down into a new life in Rowan’s home in Oklahoma, navigate the trauma they have each experienced, face the constant fear of being found by their abusers, and attempt to create a new life for themselves surrounded by people who care about them and are willing to lend a helping hand when their newfound sense of security is threatened by Lee.

This is my second time reading Brooke Beyfuss’ work. As in her first novel After We Were Stolen, the Author’s Note before the beginning of the story discusses possible triggers. I also found the Interview with the Author at the end of the book, where she discusses her writing process, the research involved and her motivation to write this story very interesting. Though Before You Found Me by Brooke Beyfuss deals with heavy topics such as domestic abuse, child abuse, and trauma, the author, rather than craft a dark and disturbing narrative centered around abuse (few descriptions are upsetting), focusses on the path to healing, trust, second chances, sacrifice and found family. Rowan acts on an impulse borne out of her own experiences of abuse and her knowledge of the foster care system, well aware of the legal implications of her actions. We might question some of her choices but it is evident that her heart is in the right place. My heart broke for Gabriel and I thought the author depicted his pain and confusion, feelings of insecurity, attachment to Rowan and innocence with much sensitivity. I also like how the author chose to explore the strained relationship between Rowan and Celia and how they gradually begin to understand one another. The author does an incredible job of portraying complex emotions without making the narrative too heavy. Rowan’s and Gabriel’s journey is a difficult one - beginning with trauma – both physical and emotional, fear and moments of despair but also shows the role love, empathy and kindness play in the path to healing. Overall, this is a heart-wrenching story that will stay with you.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on August 1, 2023.

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