Lotus Bloom I, In This Mucky Trance—
A Story of Transformation
Denice Fawcett, author of The Dragon King’s Daughter, has traveled to mysterious places and back, a journeyer and survivor of the most courageous kind. Like Odysseus on his quest, she’s disabled monsters and survived treacheries, and she’s earned the right to sleep peacefully at home and to take saner trips to more delightful, everyday places.
The Dragon King’s Daughter is a memoir of transformation—from junky, incest survivor, unconscious victim, unhappy wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, and friend; to free spirit, kindergarten teacher, mother of two, spiritual being, author, and one free from the ghosts of her past. Born into what we now know to call a dysfunctional family, Denice Fawcett fought her way back from drug addiction and the damage inflicted in her childhood, mostly by her child-molesting grandfather and those who protected and ignored his heinous behavior.
Courageous and straightforward, The Dragon King’s Daughter takes a good look at Fawcett’s journey into drug addiction and her remarkable recovery. Through inward searching and the Buddhist practice of chanting, she was able to find her way out of the darkness and into the light.
And The Dragon King’s Daughter isn’t afraid to look at the darkness before it steps out of it. We travel with Fawcett down the streets of Harlem, looking for heroine and meeting her partners in crime—some of them quite likable and some of them simply frightening. We learn about the history of Fawcett’s family—the many deaths caused alcoholism and drugs, the ogre Hammond, who refuses to be called “daddy” or “grandpa” for fear of aging and losing his frightening prowess; the grandmother, who overlooks her husband’s nasty foibles, insisting he’s been a good provider; and the mother, who lets her raping father into her home.
Throughout the book we get the poetic and positive voice of the author, and this keeps The Dragon King’s Daughter from descending down a dark path of no return. Parts of this memoir are upliftingly joyous in their celebration of recovery, life, and the quest itself, and we’re grateful to Denice Fawcett for throwing light on her darkness and for enlightening our own.
Denise Fawcett is a writer and kindergarten teacher who lives in Denver, Colorado with her two children. She is currently at work on a collection of poetry.
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