Torbay writer Sarah Pearse has teamed up with domestic abuse charity Refuge for the release of her new book The Wilds, which has just been published. It’s the third in the trilogy featuring detective Elin Warner and follows her journey as she investigates a disturbing disappearance. Central to the plot is Kier, who leaves her Devon home town and twin brother to live her life on the road, ending up in Portugal’s remote National Park Peneda-Gerês, known for its wild beauty and isolation, where she goes missing.
A psychological thriller, The Wilds has plenty of underlying menace and threat. One of the themes running through the book is coercive control, particularly gaslighting, digital abuse and financial control, which sparked the partnership with Refuge. Sarah explains “It’s not a comfortable topic to write about, but an important one.
I’m sure many of us know someone who has been affected by domestic abuse and the devastation it can cause to individuals and families. “For me, it was sobering to learn that one in four women experience domestic abuse in their lifetime and that it can take seven attempts before someone leaves an abusive partner for good.” Sarah initially approached Refuge, the largest domestic abuse organisation in the UK, to fact check her portrayal of coercive control and ensure it was grounded in reality.
This led on to plans for a collaboration to raise awareness of the charity and support fundraising Refuge is running a variety of promotion.