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Dark Chapter Paperback – April 17, 2018

by Winnie M. Li (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 392 ratings
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NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL Vivian is a cosmopolitan Taiwanese-American tourist who often escapes her busy life in London through adventure and travel. Johnny is a 15-year-old Irish teenager, living a neglected life on the margins of society. He has grown up in a family where crime is customary, violence is a necessity, and everything--and anyone--can be yours for the taking.
As Vivian looks to find her calling professionally, she delights in exploring foreign countries, rolling hillsides, and new cultures. And as a young, single woman, she has grown used to experiencing life on her own. But all of that changes when, on one bright spring afternoon in West Belfast, Vivian's path collides with Johnny and culminates in a horrifying act of violence.
In the aftermath of the incident, both Johnny and Vivian are forced to confront the chain of events that led to the attack. Vivian must struggle to recapture the woman that she was and the woman she aspired to be, while dealing with a culture and judicial system that treats assault victims as less than human. Johnny, meanwhile, flees to the sanctity of his transitory Irish clan. But when he is finally brought to reckon for his crimes, Vivian learns that justice is not always as swift or as fair as she would hope. Inspired by true events, DARK CHAPTER is both a literary masterpiece and a riveting novel of suspense about of the dark chapters and chance encounters that can irrevocably determine the shape of our lives.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Polis Books
  4. Publication date
    April 17, 2018
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1947993313
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1947993310
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Outstanding praise for DARK CHAPTER Highly Commended for the CWA Debut Dagger
Shortlisted for the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize
Shortlisted for the Pat Kavanagh Prize
Runner-up in the SI Leeds Literary Prize
"Highly recommended… how circumstances and accident come together tragically.” --Joyce Carol Oates "Crime writers have long insisted that their genre tackles societal issues better than any other, and Winnie M Li proves that claim beyond a doubt. While the story centres around a horrific crime, it's the exploration of the aftermath and the cruelty of the justice system that sets this book apart. A fine debut from an exceptional talent, and an important study of the human cost of violence." -Stuart Neville, award-winning author of The Ghosts of Belfast and So Say the Fallen "A gripping debut...Li does a fine job exploring how one incident can change the course of a life in this astute psychological study." -Publishers Weekly "That Li was able to write this novel, as both personal catharsis and public service, speaks volumes about her inner strength. Li's novel is both a valuable social document and a riveting page-turner." -Kirkus Reviews "What is striking about this acclaimed first novel is that not only is it based on an incident in the author’s life, but the facility with which Li is able to intertwine the life stories of Vivian and Johnny, giving each substance and depth, sacrificing her own biases to create a clear sight line for the reader. Li skillfully compels the reader to examine life stories that have converged through a nightmarish act of ­violence." -Library Journal(Starred Review) "A great, difficult, and important read.” -Book Riot “A riveting, highly empathetic read.” -Seattle Review of Books "This debut, based on true events, is a thoughtful, empathetic portrayal of the challenges rape victims face when seeking justice." -Booklist "A heart-wrenching depiction of a dreadful crime and its horrifying aftermath. Brave, raw and strikingly original, it is a story that will resonate for many years." -Daily Mail (UK) "Deftly written, pacey and unflinching, I could not put it down. Winnie Li is a rare talent with an explosive and timely story. Do not miss it." -Marti Leimbach, bestselling author of Age of Consent "I was totally gripped from the start. Dark Chapter is a brave book, and heart wrenching in places but essential in helping to break down the silence that surrounds rape in our society. Not only a beautiful book, but a very important one too." -Madeleine Black, author of Unbroken "An important and moving book." Cathy Rentzenbrink, bestselling author of The Last Act of Love "A fascinating book, which takes an unflinching look at reality of sexual violence. I found myself asking hard questions about society and relationships, but above all I was gripped by the brilliant and complex narrative. I have never found myself rooting for a heroine with more urgency than in Dark Chapter" -Kate Rhodes, bestselling author of Blood Symmetry "Lyrical, haunting and hypnotic. Winnie Li yanks us into the abyss, luring us to confront the complexities of our humanity before expertly pulling us out. An important novel." -Irenosen Okojie, Betty Trask Award winning author of Butterfly Fish

About the Author

Winnie M Li is a writer and producer, who has worked in the creative industries on three continents. A Harvard graduate, she has written for travel guide books, produced independent feature films, programmed for film festivals, and developed eco-tourism projects. After graduating with Distinction in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths (where she was shortlisted for the Pat Kavanagh Prize 2015), she now currently writes across a range of media (including a column for The Huffington Post), runs arts festivals, and is a PhD researcher in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics. She was Highly Commended for the CWA Debut Dagger 2015 and also shortlisted for the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize. She lives in London yet is somewhat addicted to travel. Dark Chapter is her first novel.



Follow Winnie M. Li online at WinnieMLi.com or on Twitter at @winniemli.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Polis Books; Reprint edition (April 17, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1947993313
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1947993310
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 392 ratings

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Winnie M. Li

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
392 global ratings
Understanding assault and survival through a powerful story
5 Stars
Understanding assault and survival through a powerful story
Nobody can truly understand the experience of a rape survivor. Winnie Li's novel gives us a chance to try, with great effect. The story is a thriller and a page turner, bringing you into Vivian's life and that of her attacker, bringing you into this uniquely traumatic and heart-wrenching experience, bringing you into the unknowns of the recovery process, making you wish you could reach into the pages to help. It's painful, l but in the end inspiring, to know that Li's own resilience and strength helped to bring you this novel, helped to explain what it is like for a woman to experience sexual assault, to interact with the criminal justice and social support systems with their warts and flaws, to see her life and relationships in a whole new way. And in the end, you wish that everyone else could read this story because the world will be a better, more empathetic and supportive place if you do.
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Top reviews from the United States

Eleanor R. Oppenheim
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW! A Fabulous Book for Everyone - Loved it in the USA
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2017
Verified Purchase
I have just finished reading “Dark Chapter,” having stayed up late last night to complete it. I had to wait until 12:00 AM June 1st to receive it on my Kindle here in the U.S. Winnie Li did a remarkable job of writing this story based on a true dark episode in her life of a brutal rape in the afternoon during a hike in Belfast.
I loved the way she was able to capture the story alternating between her report of the devastating incident and her feelings with that of her rapist a 15 year old troubled teenager. She being a Taiwanese American Harvard graduate living in London with a great sense of adventure and love for travel and he being an abused child with no education leading a criminal life. She included a good part of the story to the perpetrator to understand his impoverished wretched life.
I felt her pain and the great support she received from her friends, the police and medical people in Belfast. And also the letdown from many in the London medical community while she went through her recovery which will probably leave scars for a lifetime.
She has a message for everyone about rape, how it’s handled and the many more unreported rapes that never get reported throughout the world that go without justice being served. She also shares how she was able to get on with her life and sense of adventure.
The author is a very brave and talented writer to bring this novel to fruition after many years of working on it. I recommend it to all readers and to bookclubs as there is so much to discuss about it.
7 people found this helpful
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Steve
4.0 out of 5 stars decent
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2022
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It was alright. I found myself skimming quite a bit. Interesting story and I might look at another one her books
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Jonathan G Herrmann
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding assault and survival through a powerful story
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
Nobody can truly understand the experience of a rape survivor. Winnie Li's novel gives us a chance to try, with great effect. The story is a thriller and a page turner, bringing you into Vivian's life and that of her attacker, bringing you into this uniquely traumatic and heart-wrenching experience, bringing you into the unknowns of the recovery process, making you wish you could reach into the pages to help. It's painful, l but in the end inspiring, to know that Li's own resilience and strength helped to bring you this novel, helped to explain what it is like for a woman to experience sexual assault, to interact with the criminal justice and social support systems with their warts and flaws, to see her life and relationships in a whole new way. And in the end, you wish that everyone else could read this story because the world will be a better, more empathetic and supportive place if you do.
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Jonathan G Herrmann
5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding assault and survival through a powerful story
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2017
Nobody can truly understand the experience of a rape survivor. Winnie Li's novel gives us a chance to try, with great effect. The story is a thriller and a page turner, bringing you into Vivian's life and that of her attacker, bringing you into this uniquely traumatic and heart-wrenching experience, bringing you into the unknowns of the recovery process, making you wish you could reach into the pages to help. It's painful, l but in the end inspiring, to know that Li's own resilience and strength helped to bring you this novel, helped to explain what it is like for a woman to experience sexual assault, to interact with the criminal justice and social support systems with their warts and flaws, to see her life and relationships in a whole new way. And in the end, you wish that everyone else could read this story because the world will be a better, more empathetic and supportive place if you do.
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3 people found this helpful
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Tia
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2017
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Good book, would recommend.
One person found this helpful
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Arlene D Botelho
5.0 out of 5 stars I've never read a book quite like this.
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
I've never read a book quite like this. Although the subject of rape is by nature both awkward and traumatic, the book itself reads like a dance. First, you are introduced to the protagonist Vivian, then passages later to the villain Johnny. Their lives at first seem worlds apart until they collide into the horrific moment in the park. From that moment onward, it's like a new timeline is created with the intersection of their lives. There are thoughts of "what-if's" and "how could this happen?" Despite the nightmare, their lives must continue to unfold. Li has crafted a thoughtful and provoking book that opens up a safe space for discussion of sexual assault. Inspiring.
3 people found this helpful
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Kim Youngsu
4.0 out of 5 stars This is the genre i like.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2018
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It is very exciting.
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Joslyn
5.0 out of 5 stars I thought the pace of the book was spot-on and enjoyed seeing two different perspectives on the same situation intertwine ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
As a full time working mom, I only have 40 minutes a day to read - on the train to and from the office. Winnie Li's book Dark Chapter was so engrossing that during the course of reading it I actually missed my train stop several times. I thought the pace of the book was spot-on and enjoyed seeing two different perspectives on the same situation intertwine they way they did. I'm a big fan of Steve Berry, Faye Kellerman, Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben - and I thought Dark Chapter ranked right up there with some of my favorites from those authors. Highly recommend.
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DiL
5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and brave
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2017
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Poignant and brave novel that depicts a woman's rape and the aftermath of all she has to endure, the before and after of this life changing event. But what makes this story particularly arresting is that half the novel is also told from the rapists pov and allows us to understand what circumstances shaped this boy. The novel does not minimize or excuse the depravity of what he did, but it does allow the reader to see why he is this way in the first place.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Ashwini D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Order is convenient
Reviewed in India on February 17, 2021
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Do buy it..👍👍
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Ashwini D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Order is convenient
Reviewed in India on February 17, 2021
Do buy it..👍👍
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One person found this helpful
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sharon
5.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally astounding
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2018
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Vivian and Johnny, two very different people from two very different backgrounds whose paths are on course for collision. In The Dark Chapter, Winnie Li takes us on a journey that changed her life forever. This is a story based on reality, it’s a tough and emotional read but it is also a story of strength, resilience and a journey to recovery. It is a story that needs to be read.

It is harrowing, and despite being fiction, it is a raw read as we know that the author is also a survivor of rape. This might not be the whole of her story but it is written from the heart and the perspective of someone who has lived through this experience and so it is difficult not to feel that emotional connection with Vivian. The prologue is so intense as the narrator watches herself from a distance taking a journey she is powerless to stop. Right from the very beginning I was drawn in and in doing so was taken on the journey alongside Vivian all of the way.

The book follows alternate chapters in which Vivian and Johnny’s lives are traced leading up to the event that would change their lives forever; the very ordinariness of their lives and experiences, how events and people shaped the people they became, was a powerful and tense read. It was impossible to read it and not feel the emotions that Vivian felt. From start to finish was an emotional rollercoaster.

When Johnny was narrating his story it was difficult not to feel conflicted; as a human being watching the life of a young boy being shaped in such a way that it would have been nigh on impossible for him not to take the wrong path in life, it was hard not to feel sorrow for him, not to want to lay the blame on his upbringing, the discrimination faced by travellers, but it was also gut wrenching as I knew that this story was being written by a woman who had experienced the trauma that Johnny was about to inflict on her. We know that this is not Winnie Li’s attacker she is writing about as she knows nothing about him other than he was from the travelling community; he pled guilty and so there was no trial, no background information or defence lawyer trying to silence her truth. Despite the conflict mentioned above, it was impossible to empathise with him as he played out the part that was to change this woman’s life forever.

Some may ask is Winnie giving the rapist a voice or is she using fiction and writing as a therapeutic process? Having met and listened to Winnie speak, I’d say it was the latter, it is a courageous and compassionate woman who can take her experience and write about it from the perspective of the survivor as well as the perpetrator. I would say that fiction plays an important part in opening up conversations about rape and about violence; understanding why someone has done something is not condoning the act but it does help shatter the silence around the subject which is what we need to be doing; it encourages the conversations that we all need to be having.

The loneliness of Vivian struck me to the core, as she came to terms with having to censor her story to protect the listeners, to having to protect others from her pain: but also the sheer strength of her as an individual, a survivor and a voice that needed to be heard.

The courtroom scenes were written so well that I found myself sitting in the room watching the wheels of justice churning, I felt Vivian’s pain as she was left feeling exposed once more, reliving the rape under cross-examination, her pain yet her determination to see the process through in order to see justice done. It laid bare conflicts she felt, should she cry? Should she be strong and composed? How do the public expect a survivor of rape to behave? All these questions and thoughts that no individual should ever have to be thinking.

I wept reading this book, not because I think her life is ruined but I wept that she has had to go through this pain to write this novel, to write a novel where the research done was based on her experience, I wept that she was strong enough to tell this story and to carry on speaking out for those who have not yet been able to find their voice
4 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars A very powerful story
Reviewed in Australia on October 27, 2017
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Winnie M Li has written a powerful and moving book based on her own experience of being raped in Belfast. The direct language and telling the story from both the assailant and victims perspective make this a very moving book.
While the impact of the crime on her is immense her recovery and speaking out about it are inspirational. The voice of the Irish Traveller boy who committed the crime is very realistic and highlights the cultural issues that give rise to rape. The book also highlights how a sense of shame means many rapes go unreported and also how the victim support is often inadequate.
3 people found this helpful
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Sarah Faichney
5.0 out of 5 stars A phenomenal debut!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2020
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I bought and read "Dark Chapter" because I had signed up for some workshops hosted by author Winnie Li in association with Writing On The Wall, Liverpool (@wowfest). I cannot tell you how glad I am that this book came to me. The dedication at the beginning hit me square in the feels. This is a fictionalised account of real events. As such, Li provides painfully accurate descriptions of detachment during (and in the aftermath of) a sexual assault. She presents a brave, and graphic, description of a vicious rape without being gratuitous. I appreciated her honesty in confronting the fact that no-one knows how they will react until they're in the situation. In "Dark Chapter" a bright light is shone on the reality that there is no right or wrong way to behave in the face of assault. Survival is key.

What makes this book a standout are the dual perspectives. Both Vivian and Johnny have distinctive voices. In fact, the accuracy with which Li (a Taiwanese-American woman) writes a young, male Irish traveller speaks to her skill and attention to detail. The dialect, words and phrases used are incredibly authentic. I feel that it's extremely magnanimous of Li to so generously portray (and even consider) the potential backstory of her assailant. 

The courtroom experience is given the warts and all treatment, allowing those fortunate enough to have never experienced the criminal justice system a valuable insight into the inner workings. It's also important to note that Li doesn't shy away from the fact that courtroom interrogations can be brutal and re-traumatising. 

"Dark Chapter" is a phenomenal debut and a worthy award winner. Winnie Li has taken an emotive and sensitive subject and handled it with great care and respect. She writes beautifully and with a tone that is very much unique to her. I hope that this novel provides comfort to some and asks uncomfortable questions of others. It's certainly an excellent means by which to start having the challenging conversations necessary to effect change in a system often not fit for purpose. 
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Sarafina-Wales
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2024
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An excellent story, told equally from the perspective of the protagonist and her assailant. Two people who were poles apart - Vivian (a Taiwanese American Harvard graduate with a high-flying career as a producer in London and; Johnny a 15 year old Irish traveller boy. I understand the book was loosely based on a traumatic rape experience that Vivian had suffered. Johnny had almost no redeeming character traits, he lied, stole, was misogynistic and violent. His family and upbringing, IMO could not be held to blame for the way he acted, indeed, his father was disgusted when he discovered his son had raped a woman and beat Johnny to a pulp - not necessarily the way forward, but it proved the father (a tough bare knuckle fighter) had his limits and morals. Johnny's sister was also a good God-fearing Catholic girl.
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