A Woman Named Damaris

A Woman Named Damaris is a novel by the Canadian writer Janette Oke, published in 1991. It belongs to her Women of the West series.

Damaris is almost fifteen the first time she lets herself think about what her life could be like away from home. Her father has come back drunk and mean again, and the scene that follows is one she has lived through for as long as she can remember. What takes hold in her mind is the idea that she does not have to put up with it any longer, and that she may be old enough to manage on her own.

She plans her escape carefully, because getting away from him is the entire purpose of it. When the opportunity arrives she carries with her the strength of her mother's love and two treasures that had been hidden from her father for years: her grandmother's lacy golden brooch and her grandfather's watch, which are almost the whole of the legacy she has from her past, along with her name.

Her mother once told her that the name came from the Bible and had a special meaning, but she can no longer remember what the meaning was, and Damaris is left to decide whether it makes any difference to anything. What she cannot get away from is the aloneness that haunts her life, or the bitterness she feels when she sees other people suffer, and especially children. The novel follows her as she comes to terms with her past, learns to live in her present circumstances, and works out where to put her trust for the future.