Osmond Constance grew up at a time where he recalled that men disciplining women was “normal”, just something that happened among couples.

It was not until he was much older that he would learn of the extent and the trauma of these actions which prompted him to write his fourth book entitled “The Cry of a Broken Woman”. 

The book was inspired by the trepidations of his aunt whose husband constantly mistreated her until she left him in her older years. 

“One of the instances in the book had to do with my aunt where the husband was so upset about something and they argued and she was home preparing her clothes to go to work as a nurse ironing and during the argument, he gets so upset, he picked up the hot iron from her hand and just rest it on her side and burn her so badly.”

“You could smell it all over in the house,” he recalled.

His aunt lived with her husband in the village of Castle Bruce, Dominica working as a nurse in the 1980s.

Mr. Constance recalled growing up in Dominica in his teens where he witnessed this type of continued behavior that he can now identify as abuse between his aunt and her husband. He then moved to St. Croix where he managed the Tropical Ten Pins (the bowling alley) for several years and was a well-known and esteemed individual. Mr. Constance later moved to the mainland U.S. with his wife and their daughter, and has built a successful career in the field of accounting.

“What triggered me is when they brought this up to me couple years ago and then I realized what I saw was nothing compared to what they told me that she went through after I left,” he told the Consortium during an interview for new book.

“At that time, I didn’t do anything about it because I was still going to school and that was the furthest thing from my mind. To me, it was just like another day when things just happened. Back home that was the norm to see that when you were growing up,” he said.

The book also features stories from other women who spoke about their experiences with rape and abortions – topics that oftentimes overwhelmed the author.

“This book is very emotional … sometimes I had to stop and take breaks before I continue because it brings back certain memories,” admitted Mr. Constance.

Still, storytelling is his way of clearing his thoughts. He told the Consortium that he took up writing in 2009 one Sunday after hearing stirring words from a preacher.

“That was the furthest thing from my mind, to tell you the truth. Writing, that was not part of my calling at the time, ” he chuckled lightly. 

But three books later – “The Verdict”, “God’s Simple Poems to You” and “The Storm that Formed the Human Rainbow” – and the public, he said, continues to respond favorably to his written works.

His latest writing, “The Cry of a Broken Woman” was released last Tuesday on November 29 and can be purchased at book outlets, online at Barnes and Nobles and on Amazon in a few days.

Already, he indicated people’s interest in wanting to read the book. The author hopes his book will encourage both men and women to be better people.

“I want the ladies to know that they could still be strong regardless of what they’re going through and to let it be known … and the men, I hope they could learn how to treat the ladies better,” he remarked.

He noted too that confronting the situation might help them save lives before it is too late.

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