«The Wooden Chair» by Rayne E. Golay

Winner of the Royal Palm Award!

As a child, Leini stands ready to do anything to win her mother Mira's love. This effort costs her the sight in one eye and as a result, causes her to endure bullying from kids her own age. As a teenager, with her Grandpa's help, she undergoes one more surgery to straighten her eye, but the psychological scar of the events of her childhood remain.

Leini struggles to break free of Mira's tyranny by leaving her native Helsinki to study psychology at Geneva University. A few years later, married, herself about to become a mother, she is determined with her own children not to repeat Mira's behavior. With the help of a psychiatrist, she labors through the pains of past hurts to become a nurturing and loving mother and wife, as well as a successful professional, as she grows from victim to victor over adversity. Can her efforts lead her to the one thing she needs to discover the most - the ability to forgive her mother?

PRAISE FOR THE WOODEN CHAIR:

The Wooden Chair is a beautifully written period piece. When I began reading, I didn't stop until I turned the last page. Ms. Golay's descriptions are so powerful, the characters so true to life, they're unforgettable. Leini's journey from an emotionally abused child to a self-confident woman should be read by all who've suffered any form of abuse and persevered. Quite the most powerful novel I've read in years." -Suzanne Barr, Author of Fatal Kiss

The Wooden Chair took hold of me in the first paragraphs and never let go. I kept expecting-and wanting-someone to rescue Leini from her wildly unpredictable mother who told Leini she wasn't wanted. Leini's disappointments and longings as she faced serious issues for such a young girl kept me engrossed. I wept at Rayne Golay's vivid descriptions of Leini coping in an unfair world, and I rejoiced at her remarkable quest to change, at her acceptance as she grew into adulthood. Rayne's high quality writing in The Wooden Chair makes it an emotionally charged read, a compelling story of one woman's valiant struggle to grow away from past hurts. A triumphant story! -Elizabeth (Bettie) Wailes, Author and Editor