The Ladybug and the Dove

<p><strong><em>The Ladybug and the Dove</em> is a powerful memoir about trauma resilience and the healing power of art. Valerie Paterson shares her journey of survival after enduring two rapes in her twenties-one at knifepoint by a juvenile serial rapist-and the decades of silence that followed. Her story takes readers from a peaceful hamlet in France to the courtrooms of Boston revealing the lifelong impact of sexual violence and the complex pursuit of justice.</strong> </p><p>A chance meeting with another survivor decades later compels Valerie to confront her buried pain and reclaim her voice. Central to her healing is quilting-a creative lifeline that allows her to express grief anger love and hope when words fail. Each stitch becomes part of a narrative of survival culminating in her powerful quilt <em>Hell and Hope</em> which stands as both a personal testimony and a public symbol displayed in legal and advocacy settings. </p><p>Through unflinching honesty Valerie explores themes of race justice and forgiveness challenging societal perceptions of sexual assault-especially when the attacker is a Black male and the victim a white woman. Her story is as much about finding empathy as it is about reclaiming agency and purpose. </p><p>For readers of Chanel Miller's <em>Know My Name</em> and Alice Sebold's <em>Lucky</em> this memoir is both a reckoning and an offering of hope. <em>The Ladybug and the Dove</em> is not just one woman's story-it's a testament to the transformative power of creativity and the enduring strength of the human spirit</p>