Sometimes to save your life, you must threaten to take it. Olivia never thought she'd be just another one of those abused women, but now she needs to escape the violent same-sex relationship she finds herself in. When her father suffers a stroke and requires 24-hour care, she recognizes an opportunity to start fresh. The problem is that she must return to a dysfunctional childhood home full of memories that drove her away in the first place, and that sent her brother spiralling into addiction. In order to avoid her own self-destruction, Olivia must find a way to resolve her mother's suicide, her brother's addiction, and her father's need to be understood-- even if it means she must delve into the darkest parts of her own psyche to find forgiveness. SECRET LANGUAGE OF CROWS is womens literary fiction that explores how family secrets and domestic abuse have a stake in addiction recovery. In the tradition of Canadian women writers, the author delivers a story of Canadian literature both dark and brutal that somehow finds a way to the light.