Sunday, August 7, 2016

Field Mouse: The Price of Innocence







Field Mouse: The Price of Innocence
By
A. E. Lawrence


Taffeta Moonrose is born a bastard child and raised in captivity like an animal after her mother is killed.  Suddenly set free when her captor, Charles Willoughby, dies of a heart attack, she is left to fend for herself in a hostile world and begins stealing food from the towns folks.  It is by her cunning and the secluded farm to which she can retreat that allows her to evade capture for so long. 
However, when Matt and Toby Claybourne arrive in the area on vacation and learn of the wild girl, Toby becomes determined to find and adopt her.  When they finally do find her and gain her trust, their relationship changes their lives in ways unforeseen.
Desperate for an ally in their quest to adopt Taffeta, the Claybournes seek the help of a police officer, John Hiller.  However, they are not aware that he had raped Taffeta’s mother, Nancy, and is the girl’s biological father.  But the truth is revealed during the first meeting between Hiller and Taffeta.  He is shocked when he realizes that the girl is his daughter, and when Toby accuses him of rape, he panics, pulls his gun and accidently shoots the girl. 
Taffeta survives the wound, and the Claybournes are finally granted custody of her.
Hiller is sent to prison but is determined to break out and track down the girl.  In his twisted mind he feels that he has a right to claim her as his daughter, and he is willing to do anything to have her.
Although Taffeta wants to fit in with new life and rules she has never known, there are those who would ostracize her because she is a social misfit.  As she struggles with the restrictions placed on her by society, her naivety makes her easy prey for boys who take advantage of her innocence and abuse her sexually.  

Although Matt and Toby do their best to guide Taffeta through her most trying times, they can only hope for the best as their daughter’s life spirals out of control.



copyright 2016 A. E. Lawrence

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