“There are few things worse than mistaking an enemy for a friend.”
For some reason, that observation, penned in a sci-fi thriller by Wayne Gerard Trotman, has stayed with me through the years. Perhaps it fits my natural cynicism. It dove-tails with something my dad whispered when I joined the U.S. Air Force some 50 years ago and was about to go off on my own.
“The world is filled with a lot of self-righteous S.O.B.s,” he said. “Be cautious not to become one of them.”
These personal perceptions tumbled into my mind after I read Through the Rain, a novel by Taylor Mill’s Carol Knuth. Knuth’s fictional story, well-crafted, is a precise and gripping depiction about workplace sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of individuals who relish themselves and are smug in their place in the universe. They are enemies disguised as friends.
Sadly, Knuth’s story is not uncommon, as several organizations report.
According to statistics from AWARE (Association for Woman for Action and Research), www.aware.org.sg, 54 percent of survey respondents, the majority of whom were women, noted that they experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment.
A telephone poll by Louis Harris and Associates, as noted at www.sexualharassmentlawfirms.com, interviewed hundreds of employees and reported similar results: 31 percent of female and 7 percent of male employees claim sexual harassment in the workplace. In this survey, 100 percent of the women note the harasser was a man; for men it is about a 60-40 split between males and females. For women, most often the harassment came from a supervisor or an employee senior to them. It is not unheard of that an unwillingness to capitulate results in threats of termination. The foregoing information aligns with the premise of Knuth’s book.
In Through the Rain, women in a fictitious Northern Kentucky law firm become victims of sexual abuse and molestation by smug and powerful attorneys within the organization, men who quickly reject notions of wrongdoing. There are no witnesses. Katie Sanders, a senior paralegal and the firm’s acting human resources manager, investigates these accusations and eventually becomes a victim herself. Fortunately, Sanders escapes a horrid advance, discovers a cheating husband in its aftermath, quits her job, and seeks solace with an aunt in North Carolina. It is there, after a divorce, she hopes to heal.
However, before peace transcends, Sanders must confront past demons. The tête-à-tête at the NKy law firm was not the first sexual belligerence Sanders faced. In high school, she was the victim of a date rape drug and a brutal sexual attack. In North Carolina, she confronts her demons and emerges a stronger, better person. Part of the healing comes when this talented woman finds a new love. In many respects Through the Rain mirrors the kinds of content favored by Robert Grisham and Nicholas Sparks. There are twists and turns but you have the gist.
I recommend you read this exposé. Knuth’s novel carries a succinct message and describes an immoral sexual attitude that, according to foregoing research, exists in business and society. Knuth’s prose is refreshing, her dialogue pithy, and her characters realistic.
Knuth’s book offers a perspective about a relevant and important societal issue; her personal experiences as an activist, volunteer, and speaker generate the spirit and characters of her story.
I encourage you to read any or all of Knuth’s books and to learn about her activism. She is a local author of significance. In a crisp, forthright style she lends needed perspective to issues of communal prominence. You can learn more about her books here.
Donald Then, a novelist and experienced editor and journalist, is NKyTribune’s literary editor. He reviews books written by local authors or those with a Northern Kentucky setting. Reach him at author@djamesthen.com. Visit his website at www.djamesthen.com.