Dealing with domestic violence and child sexual abuse in Deirdre Sullivan’s Needlework

The present chapter aims to show how Irish author Deirdre Sullivan handles the sensitive topics of domestic violence and child sexual abuse in her young adult novel Needlework (2016), defined by Tara Flynn as “a modern, broken fairy tale.” After a brief introduction on home representing a dangerous place for women and their children, I will explore how Ces, the protagonist of the story, experiences the themes at stake. Specifically, I will focus on her experience as a witness of domestic violence, a victim of incest, and a survivor of abuse – in other words, a resilient teenage girl “trying to reach adulthood without falling apart.” In conclusion, through my reading, I hope to shed light on how victims of abuse may deal with its aftermath while highlighting that they are more likely to overcome their trauma if they break the silence and – to put it in the words of the #MeToo slogan – understand that they “are not alone.”