Review: The Eyes of Donna Askey?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 6, 2014
Against Her Will by Peter Martin is a psychological drama focusing on a series of events in the life of Donna Askey. Our female protagonist is plagued by emotional problems that are exacerbated by a sexual assault which nearly causes her to take her own life. A rehabilitation program brings her into the lives of the Lacey family, and the tragedy that brings them together soon takes them to yet another cataclysmic conflict. Donna's life continues along a vortex of chaos that leaves the audience spellbound in this Hitchcockian thriller.Martin tackles a highly volatile subject in dealing with rape and its aftermath, and his character Donna epitomizes the post-traumatic stress syndrome that many victims go through. It starts with our heroine faced with the option of aborting the rapist's child, which destroys her marriage with Blake. This anticipates the suicide attempt that ends up with her being committed to a hospital. It is there where she meets Theresa Askey, whose disfiguring terminal illness helps Donna take her focus off her own problems. Yet it is not enough as her frigidity threatens to destroy her new relationship with Theresa's brother Evan. Only Cole Askey threatens to submerge her lives in a romantic triangle, and Donna's resulting mental crisis brings us to a rousing finale.The redeeming social value of the novel is the discussion of the emotional disorders Donna suffers from, and her paranoia is a driving force that keeps us guessing as to where the true danger is surfacing. Many who have encountered someone in their lives may often wonder why a person has such difficulty recovering from their episode. Perhaps a glance through the eyes of Donna Askey may help them understand a bit better.