Thorns Of An Innocent Soul is a short novella about two women, corrupted by hatred and enmity in life, forced to confront their own flaws and failings after death. Ella, the mother, was cruel to her children in her obsession for beauty, wealth and prestige; Jennifer, the daughter, hated her abusive mother so much she refused to take any responsibility for the pain or grief that she caused in her own life. Neither woman would believe in or accept God; when the day of reckoning came, both would have to confront the greed, hatred, and revenge that had colored their lives for so long. A profound tale about the difficult journey to redemption and the quest for lost innocence.

Author Barbara Watkins is a master at describing horrific scenes and emotions of those trapped in frightening situations. She strikes the perfect chord when she tells this horrific tale from the viewpoint of an innocent young girl who is mentally abused and neglected by her mother.

My heart cried for Jennifer as she grows to womanhood; mixed-up, with her soul bleeding through every word and action. She obsesses about why her mother Ella would do this to her, so much so that she doesn't even realize she is making choices that feed her mother's frenzy. Defying Ella doesn't work because her mother "outmaneuvers" her at every turn, costing her friends and all things a young girl needs in order to have a happy life. Jennifer never realizes she might be becoming like her mother in many ways. She tends to make choices that further destroy her innocent soul.

She wants to believe her mother is a rose, as mothers should be, all the while bleeding from the thorns surrounding the rose. Each thorn tends to cut deeper and crueler, yet still Jennifer tries to understand... Then there is her younger brother to worry about...and her struggle to believe in God.

I stressed about the fate of Jennifer, gasping at each turn of events. This is how Watkins always grabs me, binding me to my chair: her excellent pacing and powerful words tear at my own soul, making me care for her characters.

What does Ella do that is so horrible? Why does she always blame the absent father? Is she aware of how she's hurting her children? Did Jennifer do anything to deserve such cruelty? Did her brothers?

But most important: Is there a solution, and if so, how does Jennifer solve it?

That and many more questions will be answered by this prolific author before the stunning ending of Thorns of an Innocent Soul. Watkins left me gasping and wanting more.

After reading this novella, I awoke the next day with a "bittersweet book hangover," still a bit stressed by the shocking, twisted ending. It takes a powerful book to have that effect on a reader.

Kudos to Watkins for another thought-provoking, exciting reading experience; I haven't gotten over her Hollowing Screams yet. Keep your eyes on this author, as she is a force to be reckoned with in the horror field.

Endnote: Although it has nothing to do with the quality of writing in an excellent manuscript, I must mention that I adore the cover and the entire formatting. Check the Amazon "look inside" feature on the cover icon and you'll see what I mean. Thanks to book designer Blue Harvest Creative who put out the best quality books.

The painful thorns of abuse, when shoved into the delicate skin of the victim, leave only two ways to survive the mental anguish.

Bury it so deep that your mind refuses to admit it ever happened, or feed off of the pain and use it to fuel your own rage.

Once the cycle of abuse starts, it's like an infectious disease that permeates everything in its path. It also is hereditary. The embedded thorns inside the soul of one victim are oftentimes passed along to the next generation as a new, deadlier strain.

This is a story full of intense emotions about one woman's struggle to rid herself of the thorns inside her soul. Jennifer and her siblings are now adults, each one survived the abuse and fled the damaging nest as soon as they were able to escape. Her two brothers dealt with their traumatic childhood by burying their memories and learning to ignore the pain and attempt to live normal lives.

Jennifer, on the other hand, does not. The thorns fester inside her, creating a toxic mixture of hatred and rage. She becomes consumed by vengeance, determined to make her mother pay for the innocence she stole from her children.

Will Jennifer's revenge allow her to finally extract the insidious barbs once and for all? Or will her single-minded purpose of revenge turn her into the thing she hates the most: her mother.

A fantastic short by the gifted author Barbara Watkins.