recent novels
Dr. Darla / available on Amazon October 20, 2017
“Before others will appreciate and respect you, you have to appreciate and respect yourself. The Bible says, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’. We tell other people how to treat us by the way we treat ourselves.”
Dr. Darla is a compelling story about mental health issues, faith, and overcoming obstacles. Christian psychiatrist Darla Davenport struggles with her private demons as she counsels and treats her patients. Her patients wrestle realistically with depression, schizophrenia, and narcissistic personality disorder, and one ends up on trial for her life because of temporal lobe seizures. This novel emphasizes the often-misunderstood relationship between Christianity and psychiatry, which work together to create healing and redemption. read more LAUGHTER AT DAWN / 2013
Abigail (Abby) Thornton is an intellectually-disabled young woman who suffers with an undiagnosed psychiatric condition. Abby resides in several foster placements where she is abused before coming to live at Greenway Developmental Center. At Greenway, she suffers from hallucinations which cause her to harm herself and others; while the Center's Director, Belle Farthing, spends every waking hour trying to rid herself of Abby.
Abby's rollercoaster ride escalates, from fire to murder to strangulation. When a court case lingers, Abby's psychologist, Sally McGraw, is her advocate and defender. She and the social worker, Christine Connelly, have Abby take legal action against the State of Virginia for not providing her with the placement needs. The plot focuses on the injustices to Abby, the political power plays of the staff, the sexual indiscretions of the staff, and the sympathetic support and reactions of the few staff who care about her. |
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” |
about the author
Jo Ellen Layne is the author of the novel Laughter at Dawn as well as a short story, “Seasons,” and the article “American Family.” She based her newest novel, Dr. Darla on her thirty-seven years of experience in the mental health field as a social worker, and she has drawn on her knowledge of psychological disorders as a basis for her creative works. Her short story, “Seasons,” about a long-distance relationship, placed in an international literary competition in 1988. She also published “American Family” in Woman’s World about her personal experience of placing her mother in a nursing home.
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