The Things We Lose in the Dark by Sayword B. Eller

Sexual abuse survivor Zedwynne doesn't need anyone. Except when she wakes up from a failed suicide attempt with nowhere else to go but back into the loving arms of an overbearing mother and overprotective sister, and back to the town that almost destroyed her. Despite best efforts to keep her head down and avoid people, Zedwynne becomes invested in the lives of many through work at a local diner, and her therapy group of fellow second chancers. As these relationships grow and become more complicated, Zed begins to realize life isn't about what happens to you, but what you do with what's left. As she starts to figure out how to handle what she’s been left with, Zedwynne learns the man who abused her is dying, and she must decide if she'll let him die without facing what he's done, or confront him and risk upending her precarious progress.

Adult • Women's Fiction • Literary Fiction • Contemporary Fiction • Women's Fiction/Contemporary • Women's Fiction/Mothers and Children

Content Warning: child sexual abuse, attempted suicide, suicidal ideation, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and terminal illness.