Wild Woman, A Novel

Set in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains, Rachel Margaret Drews' debut novel, WILD WOMAN, tells the story of Charlene Louise Montgomery (Charlie), a Guns ‘N’ Roses-loving mountain girl who comes from generations of women to whom spousal abuse is just another part of life, “like fixin’ supper.” After twenty-two years of living a life according to what “don’t work,” her moment of grace comes, empowering her to let go of the need to acquire her violent husband’s attention and to transform her purpose for living.

Her bad-boy brother (Danny) is the closest thing she has to a positive male role model, and he gets her high for the first time when she is just fifteen. A year later, she meets Jimmy Randall Jr., the son of the local tire shop owner, and is transfixed by a desire for him more powerful than any drug. Like all addictions, the downward spiral ensues, leaving a gorge between her dreams of a happy family life and her heavy fisted, shame-based trailer love.

After landing in the hospital for the fifth time in six years, Charlie has a mystical experience that empowers her with the ability to choose a different path. In the despair of the damned of those addicted, she returns home to live with her Jesus-loving mama. But it is not through her mama's faith that she finds comfort and the courage to change. For Charlie, her transformation comes from discovering the Divine in simple circles of recovering women where she surrenders to the process of letting go and living the life of which she could never have dreamed.