Description

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After leaving her twelve-year marriage, Sophie Tamas went to the local women's shelter to ask if she had been abused. The result is Life after Leaving, a performative, arts-based journey into the aftermath of spousal abuse and the endless struggle to make sense of loss. We see Sophie's world—the academic lectures, the therapy sessions, the childrearing, the dealings with an ex-spouse, the house reconstruction—as she looks for answers in the literature and in the lives of other women. Both lyrical and theoretical, autoethnographic and analytical, her captivating story builds to a chorus of voices, as her study participants express the loving, longing, pain, hope, and frustration of their experiences after leaving abusive relationships. The text closes with insightful and surprising suggestions for reframing "recovery". An earlier version of this manuscript was short-listed for the AERA Arts-Based Dissertation Award and won the 2011 Outstanding Dissertation Award from the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology. Sponsored by the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, University of Alberta.

About the Author

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Sophie Tamas is a postdoctoral fellow in Emotional Geography at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, and an award-winning playwright. Her current research examines sites of memory work, where we make sense and use of loss. She holds a PhD and MA in Canadian Studies from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada). Her publications focus on the ethical and methodological challenges of producing knowledge in sites of trauma. She lives in small-town Ontario with her partner, three teenage daughters, two dogs, two cats, and a fish.

Praise For…

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“This is one of the most innovative, subtle and creative pieces of qualitative work I have read for some time. Tamas’ work is rich in meaning and theoretical intent, while remaining sensitive to the experience of women recovering from spousal abuse. The book is an excellent read, reminding us of the different and powerful ways in which research can be presented.

—Karl Atkin, University of York

“An original, smart, well-crafted, and heartfelt analysis of recovery—or not—from spousal abuse. Tamas brilliantly and passionately dialogues with postmodernists, feminists and clinicians. A must read for those interested in trauma and recovery.”

—Laurel Richardson, Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University

“Bold in form and content, Tamas presents a transfixing account of life after leaving an abusive relationship. In examining the complexities, uncertainties and chaos in her own journey and in the experiences of other women, her work exposes the cracks in the story of the recovery process that has dominated the field of intimate partner violence. Hers is a work to pay attention to.

—Janice Ristock, Associate Vice-President (Research) and Professor, Women's and Gender Studies Program, University of Manitoba

“Life after Leaving represents the best in autoethnographic writing. Sophie Tamas turns her lens inward to show the passion, complexity, and emotionality in living with abuse; sideways to examine the relational aspects of abuse; then outward to show how personal narrative can be an effective tool to better understand and confront complex social issues. This is a bold, personal, performative, creative, and theoretically-rich story that will fully engage your heart, mind, and activist spirit.”

—Carolyn Ellis, University of South Florida

“Life after Leaving is an amazing, brilliant work, hard to put down, charts new territory!”

—Norman K Denzin, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana