House of Safe

by Holly Russell

Commercial Fiction International Romantic Thriller

Life-altering friendship between an American soap actress and a Ukrainian sex-trafficking survivor leads to healing - and a reckoning.

Greenfields, Connecticut, 2002

“You have to take her. She has nowhere else to go.”

When Amber Brady’s brother, Troy, appears at her house in the middle of the night with a mysterious young woman, Amber’s husband, James, is furious. Amber is intrigued. 

“What’s your name?”

“I am Larysa Doroshenko.” 

Larysa’s vulnerability resonates with Amber. Her career in shambles, stuck in a volatile marriage, grieving for her friend Rosa, who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she’s vulnerable herself. On impulse she welcomes Larysa into her home and while caring for Amber’s baby together, both women begin to recover from their pain. Then the traffickers hunt Larysa to Greenfields, forcing her to make a choice that brings about more trauma but ultimately liberates her, and Amber.

A story of grit and salvation woven together with whimsy and warmth, House of Safe explores the power of human relationships to wound and to bring back joy.