Casual Cruelties — Alison Irving

She wants to escape the prison of her marriage -- but after decades of mind games, does she have the strength to break free?

Fifty-three, long-married, and in the throes of menopause, Laura is dismayed. She's always tolerated her journalist husband's belittling insults and manipulation -- but at least she got some peace when he was busy at his job. Now he's working from home, and her life is becoming a nightmare. Laura's blessed escape comes in the form of book club meetings where her female friends commiserate and joke about raging hormones and rogue chin hairs. She also runs into an ex-boyfriend, and their renewed friendship awakens the spirit and self-confidence she thought was long gone.

But when Laura learns some startling things about her spouse, she begins to think she needs a different kind of life change. But an abuser can be dangerous when deprived of his fun -- and just how far is Laura prepared to go to get her life back?