Yvonne Baboolal
Letters to Dr Narcissist, Prince of Darkness, by new author Bavina Sookdeo, was launched at Nigel R Khan Booksellers Ltd at Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas on November 13.
Set in Trinidad, the book, based on the true experience of Sookdeo's friend, traces the obsessive love of a sheltered young Hindu woman for a Christian doctor. He is so in love with himself that he told her to write him and say how she feels about him.
He literally told her one day, too, that he is the prince of darkness and his dark side is revealed during physically intimate moments when he tries to strangle her.
She later finds out he is married. Devastated, she and the child she bore for him migrate to a foreign country where she is still trying to get over him.
In her address to the small gathering of friends and relatives at the launch, Sookdeo said light always overcomes darkness through the power of prayer. She said her friend asked her to write her story and gave her the letters she wrote to Dr Narcissist.
She agreed to do it to document what many women go through on a daily basis, she said. Sookdeo said since the book's release, a number of women have come forward with their own stories.
A 65-year-old woman told her she had a similar experience and was still living in that situation.
Sookdeo pleaded with parents to protect their children and to prepare them to deal with the harshness and darkness of this world.
"There are predators who are just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on the good and innocent," she said.
She said sound morals and values are becoming extinct but urged young women to hold on dearly to them.
Sookdeo, a Guardian writer, is fully convinced that God made her write the book for a purpose.
She said she had no thought of becoming an author at the time but completed it in three months. Everything just fell into place after that.
Media worker Ronald Hinkson, who was the MC, had a word for those critics who may feel Sookdeo is a man-hating scribe.
"Hold your tongue, you mauvais-langue Trinis."
The book was edited by veteran journalist and T&T Guardian contributor David Cuffy.