A True Story About Rape
by Cheri Calvert

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is a vacationer’s paradise, attracting an international guest list to its tranquil lake shores. Pink flowering plums promenade along the walkway by City Beach, against a backdrop of still snow capped mountains. On Sunday afternoons, sunbathers are serenaded by the sounds of seagulls competing with strands of live music drifting over from the Rotary Band Shell in the Park.

It resembles a watercolor illustration in a child’s storybook; beautiful, gentle, and safe. But things begin to change in the spring of 2003. An unknown intruder, preying on women living alone, began eroding the trust of this small town. By fall, the list of victims had grown to include women from 28 to 82-years-old, the police still had no one in custody, and the community was feeling edgy.

A series of alarming coincidences push the author into pursuing her own answers, even when it means confronting her worst fears. With amazing compassion, Calvert discovers a world very different than what she had known.

Weaving together the vivid contrasting colors of two lives into a landscape of forgiveness, Calvert writes courageously of her descent into darkness. “Just like a tiny seed needs to remain buried in the dark, cold earth through the winter, sometimes I need to allow myself to go into the darkness before I can sprout new growth and bloom once again.”

Garden metaphors intertwine gently through the tale, like the tendrils of a vine reaching for the sun, as she leads us down pathways that merge innocence with the horrific.

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10% of the profits will be donated to:
The Coeur d'Alene Women's Center

The Women's Center provides 24-hour crisis intervention to people in need due to domestic or sexual violence. They have been assisting families in crisis as a result of violence since 1977. It is a non-profit agency with services provided free of charge. The Women's Center is victim advocacy-based and maintains confidentiality for its clients.

It is funded by ongoing community support, the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance, United Way, The Friends of the Center, grants, numerous fundraising events and through the generosity of a number of public and private donors.

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