Rosalind Palmer: I will never forget Chapter 17,the one where Grace finally speaks of the fire. That chapter shook me to my core. It was written with such restraint, such reverence for suffering, that it felt sacred. There’s a line where she says, “The flames did not kill me; they taught me to see,” and I swear, that sentence has been echoing in my heart ever since.

Jan Notzon didn’t use her trauma as plot he honored it as testimony. The way he writes women’s pain with empathy and quiet dignity brought tears to our entire group. We talked about how rare it is for a male author to understand vulnerability without objectifying it. He does. Completely.

Jan, you gave voice to something universal the kind of pain that doesn’t scream but still changes the shape of a life. You’ve written healing into literature, and that’s not something you can fake. That’s something that comes from living