In Night's City — Dorothy Nelson

On the night of a father's death, two women remember. Esther, the wife denied, and Sara, her corrupted daughter, look back at the father's overwhelming cruelty and ahead to their freedom from him. Finally liberated from his terrible physical and emotional abuse, they must decide whether they will accept new possibilities or conform to old values. The darkness, no matter how black, is not complete: "I don't hate being a woman," Sara tells herself. "I don't." Beautifully written and remarkably powerful, In Night's City extends the tradition of the lyrical, impressionistic Irish novel, turning it to the hard-edged story of two women's attempt to escape a terrifying past.