Walking Wounded

The story begun in Dancing on His Grave continues, as the five Finch girls one by one escape their father's psychopathic abuse, only to find themselves cast into the world drastically ill-equipped to cope with the demands of adulthood. In this sequel, the girls find their paths mined with the untruths and denial learned as children, and the lack of self-esteem or faith in their own abilities. In spite of these pitfalls, the young women's intelligence, determination and love for their children keep them striving toward normalcy. At the same time, their mother chooses to stay with her husband for seven years after her daughters have all gone, and with her classic denial conceals his increasingly psychotic behavior. Finally, after a severe concussion and a near miss again a month later, she flees to her oldest daughter's home and begins the long process of de-programming, after thirty three years of abuse. During her recovery, she fulfills a life-long dream of graduating from college with a degree in English. Meanwhile, her husband pursues the path of an alcoholic, and two years later remarries. Within a few months his new wife disappears. It takes the girls over a year to find her, back in Las Vegas, with a story of a terror-filled night when she was convinced he would murder her. Walking Wounded attempts to bring the Finch family's story to a reasonable conclusion, although the effects of the brutality inflicted on them as children create a life-long struggle for the women.