Book Review - The Other Gloria
The Other Gloria, by L.A. Villafane is a very interesting story about a woman who has to navigate her life while living with dissociative disorder. Having an abusive husband and 2 young girls, Gloria learns how to manage the stress of her daily life and her estranged husband by suppressing memories until she's not able to keep track of reality. This story takes you back and forth between 2 versions of Gloria's life.
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Summary:
Gloria got married at 17 after meeting Charles through her father at his job. She was young and inexperienced and fell for him quickly. As soon as they were married, Charles began showing his controlling, abusive personality. Gloria began feeling isolated from her friends and family.
The story begins with Gloria finding herself (in current day) driving to an unknown destination covered with blood. She has no recollection as to what happened to her.
The author then takes us to Gloria waking up next to Charles instead of her new fiance Rick and the reality that she is back to 2003. Her actual reality is that it's 2017 and after Gloria left Charles, she met Rick on a dating site and they have fallen in love and are engaged.
PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE
Waking up next to Charles with her 2 daughters as toddlers becomes a new reality for Gloria. Initially, she feels she's dreaming, but as the day proceeds and turns into another day and another week, Gloria realizes she can alter the outcome of her life with Charles.
Due to her dissociative disorder, Gloria is missing many memories of her life. However, the one thing that she has clarity of is her relationship with Rick. In her 2003 Life Re-Do, Gloria leaves Charles. She decides to look Rick up in the town he lives in. Shockingly, he agrees to meet with her and they begin a friendship. Their friendship progresses into a relationship.
In both the 2017 version of Gloria's life and the 2003 version, after leaving Charles, he is very angry and manipulative. He has attempted to shoot her after she leaves him and made reference to threats he used to make when they were married about using a knife to harm her.
STARTING OVER
Gloria begins a loving relationship with Rick in both versions of her life. In 2017, he has a daughter, Megan from a previous (volatile) marriage. In 2003, he's just begun that relationship and ends it after meeting Gloria.
The story ends with Gloria in the hospital, after passing out on the side of the road following the waking up to her shirt, face and arms being covered in blood. She has memory of using a screwdriver to stab Charles after he's bound her legs and arms and locked her in the trunk of his car.
After escaping Charles, Gloria drove off in his car until it ran out of gas. She left the car, trying to walk to someone's home to ask for help when she passed out. The police found her purse and were able to track down where she lived. When she comes to in the hospital, her (now older) daughters along with Rick (who they're calling Dad) and Megan come into the hospital room.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Due to her memory loss, Rick explains that they were married in 2007 and she had Megan soon after. Her 2 younger girls began calling Rick "Dad" and started calling Charles (who never wanted to have kids), "Father". She had been going to Charles' house to pick up her daughter Sarah when Charles attacked her and put her in his trunk and drove away.
Rick, Gloria, Sarah and Megan moved to Texas and started their lives over on a Ranch. Gloria's older daughter, who was then engaged to be married and attending college remained in California but planned to move to Texas after graduating.
Gloria finally was living the peaceful, content life she deserved with a man she loved who took care of her.
REVIEW:
This story captivated me from the start. I was sucked in by rooting for Gloria who was married to this awful man, Charles. I feared for her and wished for her to be able to escape and find happiness with her 2 daughters.
While it was an easy to read story, it wasn't actually easy to follow the timeline. I finished this book this morning and I'm literally still trying to figure out the truth of the reality. Was 2003 real and she dreamed that she had remained with Charles until 2017, then left him and met Rick. OR, was she with Charles for more than 15 years before finally leaving him to meet Rick, but dreamed that she had made her escape in 2003 and met Rick much earlier. I truly cannot work this out by the way the story was written.
I enjoyed getting to know Gloria, her girls, and Rick and was encouraged to read to find out what happened to her. While this story kept me on the edge of my seat, it left me with questions at the end.
If you've read this book, please share your thoughts below. I'd love to hear someone else's perspective.
Until my next review...
