Not all abuse leaves a mark.

For more than two years, BBC Radio 4's The Archers ran a disturbing storyline centred on Helen Titchener's abuse at the hands of her husband Rob. Not the kind of abuse that leaves a bruise, but the sort of coercive control that breaks your spirit and makes it almost impossible to walk away. As she listened to the unfolding story, Helen Walmsley-Johnson was forced to confront her own agonizing past.

Helen's first husband controlled her life, from the people she saw to what was in her bank account. He alienated her from friends and family and even from their three daughters. Eventually, he threw her out and she painfully began to rebuild her life.

Then, divorced and in her early forties, she met Franc. Kind, charming, considerate Franc. For ten years she would be in his thrall, even when he too was telling her what to wear, what to eat, even what to think.

Look What You Made Me Do is her candid and utterly gripping memoir of how she was trapped by a smiling abuser, not once but twice. It is a vital guide to recognizing, understanding and surviving this sinister form of abuse and its often terrible legacy. It is also an inspirational account of how one woman found the courage to walk away.

'Powerful' Jane Garvey, Woman's Hour

'Compelling' Suzanne Moore

A powerful memoir of coercive control: abuse that leaves no physical mark but which leaves deep hidden scars.

About the Author
For many years, Helen Walmsley-Johnson was the author of the Guardian's 'The Vintage Years' blog, which had 65,000 regular readers and she is still a regular contributor to the Guardian and the New Statesman. Before beginning her column, she worked for the Daily Telegraph and as Alan Rusbridger's PA at the Guardian. Her book about middle age, The Invisible Woman, was published to great acclaim in 2015. Her experience surviving coercive control is powerfully told in her personal memoir Look What You Made Me Do. She lives in a village in the Midlands.

Reviews
Compelling ... A hard book to read, harder I imagine to have written. But absolutely necessary if you want to understand coercive control. Read it. -- Suzanne Moore * Guardian *
Coercive control may have recently been made illegal in Britain, but not many women dare to open up about it. Helen Walmsley-Johson is an exception. * The Times *
At first, Helen Walmsley-Johnson was so desperate to please her boyfriend Franc that she overlooked his exacting standards, his overbearing interest in what she wore and who she saw. But before long, her every move was controlled by the man who claimed to love her. The scariest part? How easily such behaviour - and worse - became her new normal. * You Magazine *
A forensic investigation into how an intelligent and proud forty-three year old woman became trapped in an abusive love affair ... a warming subtle realistic narrative of recovery -- Terri Apter * TLS *
Brilliant and engrossing * David Challen *
A piercingly accurate depiction of being in a controlling relationship and how difficult it is to leave * Dawn Foster *
Powerful -- Jane Garvey * Woman's Hour *



Book Information
ISBN 9781509848751
Author Helen Walmsley-Johnson
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 224g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 129mm * 19mm