These Broken Roads
Scammed and Vindicated, One Woman's Story
by Donna Marie Hayes
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Pub Date Oct 03 2023 | Archive Date Oct 02 2023
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Description
One woman’s story, every woman’s nightmare
Donna Marie Hayes had a fortitude and smarts. She already survived so much. In this gripping memoir, Hayes recounts the story of her impoverished Jamaican childhood and eventual immigration to the United States at 14. She weathers hardships, including a strict church upbringing, family abandonment, and marriages fused with domestic violence. Then she breaks free as a single mother.
Decades later, Donna is educated and at the top of her game in New York City. Her career is soaring on Wall Street and she is starring in her own one-woman show off Broadway. Yet at the peak of her triumph, she is scammed and robbed of her life’s savings by the “love of her life” who she meets on an online dating site. The mastermind was not the usual faceless online fraudster, hiding behind a computer screen in a faraway land; rather, he slept beside her for a year and a half, pretending to be the love of her life.
This is the story of how that woman rose yet again to find her power, making the scam and her choice of such a man the last run along the broken roads of her past.
Advance Praise
“From the outset of These Broken Roads, author Donna Hayes finds herself asking, “How did I get here?” The answer is a doozy. A corporate executive at an international investment bank in New York City, Hayes arrived by way of a small town in Jamaica where she grew up among chickens, superstitions, and grief at having been abandoned by both of her parents. In her teens, Hayes’ mother returns to bring her into an unfamiliar family in America where she continues her quest for safety and love. These Broken Roads is Hayes’ Cinderella story beginning in the Jamaican countryside and ending in an Uptown Penthouse. It is a journey from betrayal to self-discovery. It is a coming of age that is at once human and hopeful. Hayes’ life, though complicated by duplicity is consistently buoyed by a strength and competence that is in moments, breathtaking. Pick up this book. You will not be able to put it down.” —Joselin Linder, author of The Family Gene
“Although Donna Hayes’ first book, These Broken Roads, is the story of the empowering and indomitable feminine spirit, it is not a feminist book. It is a story of a woman that faces seemingly insurmountable odds not just to survive but to flourish and thrive. Magical, painful, cathartic and thrilling at once.” —Thomas G Waites, Actor, Teacher, and Filmmaker
“A riveting memoir, These Broken Roads, is an against all odds story, told with brazen honesty by Donna Hayes, a woman whose childhood abandonment leads her down a path driven by a desperate need for love, only to find herself in abusive relationships with three damaged men. Ultimately, she finds the strength she needs to leave her troubled past behind and begin the healing process through her enduring power of faith.” —Robin Bobbé, Modernager Casting, Owner
“A glorious testament to the triumphant spirit we all have within. Donna shares her remarkable life story with incredible vulnerability and clarity. Taking us on a journey from rural Jamaica to the high rises of the Upper East side of Manhattan, filled with challenges that are ultimately turned into lessons…for us all. Bravo, a beautiful read.” —Annie McGovern, Actor, Director/Producer, Singer and VP of Simulations, Inc.
“There are so many levels to enjoy and learn from in Donna Hayes’ amazing new book. There is a vivid depiction of the sights and sounds of Hayes’ both difficult and joyous Jamaican upbringing as well as the twists and turns of a young woman struggling to find success and romance far from home. The disappointments she experiences and then her eventual triumph both professionally and romantically add to the compelling and wonderful read that is Hayes’ memoir.” —Ellen Sherman, Writer, Producer and host of the Binge or Bomb podcast
Marketing Plan
2023 Marketing Plan: These Broken Roads
Publication Date: Oct 3
- These Broken Roads one-woman cabaret launch event performed by author, Friday, October 6 in New York City taking place at The Cutting Room theater located at 44 East 32nd Street. Open to the public with ticketing through thecuttingroomnyc.com. Complimentary VIP tickets available for bookstore buyers and owners as well as influencers, book reviewers, and media, all through the publisher, sibyllinepress.com
- New York City and Surrounds bookstore tour, October 3 through 13
- California Bookstore Tour October 16 through 26 in 12 cities
- National Publicity including author interviews on national talk shows, plus radio, print, and podcasts
- Partnerships with Women’s Organizations and stories in Women’s Magazines telling the author’s story and offering guidance on how to protect yourself against dating app scams and how to move from victimization to empowerment
- Social Media Campaign, targeting bookstagrammers, booktokers, and Facebook users with giveaways on Goodreads and Instagram
- Shelf Talkers available for stores
- Inclusion in NAIBA 2023 Holiday Catalog as featured title
- Giveaways on Goodreads and Instagram
- Author Excerpts, Essays, and Talks on: dating apps, getting scammed and rising above it, career women dating pitfalls, vindication
- Book Club Outreach; solicitation of celebrity book clubs, reading group discussion questions printed in book
- Library Market outreach, ad in Library Journal
- Trade Advertising in Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, and with California Independent Booksellers Association
- Trade Reviews pursued in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, Shelf Awareness
- Galleys Available for sales force, major media, regional media, social media influencers, influential authors, booksellers and librarians; digital galleys also available for download through Edelweiss and NetGalley
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781736795446 |
| PRICE | $17.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 226 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Christy L, Reviewer
“These Broken Roads” by Donna Marie Hayes - I was not expecting to absolutely love this story of self discovery as much as I did.
This is the true story of Jamaican born Donna - a little girl who grew up in the countryside of the Caribbean island with her grandparents, whom she called “mama” and “dada.” Left there by her mother when Donna was too small to even remember, her mother took off for New York and a new life in America, leaving Donna alone with her grandparents to grow up in Jamaica.
After a childhood that very easily could have left her broken, Donna eventually leaves the island to go live with her mother and siblings. Life in New York is not as easy as she thought it would be and she finds herself having bad relationships with multiple men, as well as with her mother. The most disturbing personal experience was with an ex-con who deceives Donna and leaves her financially and emotionally broken.
Donna writes with such passion and feeling, I actually got teary near the end when she talks about how she began to heal after going through such a difficult journey. She always looks back on the memories of her “mama” in Jamaica for strength and help repairing her heart. Her faith, the prayers of her grandmother, and her grit leads her from the countryside of Jamaica to the Bronx to the Upper East Side, but the journey her life takes her on is anything but easy. Spanning six decades of her life, Donna lives and learns, struggles, stumbles and eventually stands again. The whole book is great, but the best part is near the end when she’s talking about her healing and remembering her grandmother and the lessons she learned as a young child in Jamaica. It literally brought tears to my eyes.
I can easily give this story 5 stars. It was truly one that I would recommend to others. I look forward to more books from this author. Her life seems to be very interesting and inspirational.
Kathleen R, Reviewer
A very inspirational story Of Self Discovery
This is the true story of Jamaican born Donna who is a little girl who grew up in the countryside of the Caribbean Island in Jamaica with her grandparents, whom she called “mama” and “dada.” Even though life was not easy Donna is loved and protected by both grandparents. One day her Mama tells her that her mother and older and younger sisters are returning home from America.
Her mother's visit does not last and sadly Donna is abandoned again as her mother and sisters head back to America. Donna is devastated after the visit and withdraws into herself.
Later Donna’s best friend from school betrays her when she runs in front of a car and blames Donna saying she pushed her. A police officer comes to the house to ask Donna what happened, and she is devastated by the betrayal and lies.
After growing up in a small town in Jamaca Donna’s mother informs Donna at 15 that she is buying her a ticket to move to New York, so Donna leaves the only home she has ever known. As Donna grows up, she finds herself having bad relationships with multiple men, the most disturbing being a man she met online who takes her money and her dignity when she learns he is an ex-con, and he has been playing a game with her all along.
These Broken Roads is written with passion as Donna tells of her desperate need for love and how she finds herself in three abusive relationships with men whose Donna goes on a path ofc self-discovery and rebuilds her life to survive flourish and thrive. A very inspirational story which is written from the heart and is extremely professionally written.
once you pick this book up you will find it extremely hard to put down. Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Vikki B, Reviewer
This book is the inspirational true story of Donna Marie Hayes, her life is a journey of learning and healing!
The storyline follows Donna’s life from early childhood to surviving as an adult. Donna relies on her grandmother to teach her life skills, she moves from one disappointment to another, let down by those she trusts.
I feel for the little girl who wants to be loved, right through to the adult who is treated with contempt and lies. Donna’s has a missing-in-action mother, she is unlucky in love and finally has her life savings taken from her by the man she believed in, leaving her shattered.
I’m disheartened to hear so much about a life of loss, Donna draws strength from early memories with her grandmother, helping to reaffirm her beliefs as she struggles to overcome all that life has thrown at her. Written with honesty and heart.
Thank you to Sibylline Press, NetGalley and Donna Marie Hayes for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Ann Marie G, Reviewer
I loved reading this author's true story and trials and tribulations she went through in her marriage, relationships and the scams she had to endure . I enjoyed how she kept me on the edge of my seat by giving a history of growing up In Jamaica and family issues and her relationship with Mama, and then would jump back to current times. Very intriguing read ! I would love to read more stories surrounding her life . I was able to visualize the story as she was telling it
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