Conjuring the Hurricane
A memoir-in-verse about leaving, surviving, and rebuilding from the storm up
Arrives April 2026!
A memoir-in-verse about the quiet terror of staying, the messy truth of leaving, and the fierce, tender work of becoming free.
When Sarah Hanson realized the life she was living was no longer survivable, she didn’t have a plan. She had instinct, fear, a body that had learned to brace against danger, and a small, stubborn voice insisting she deserved more. Conjuring the Hurricane braids together domestic violence, childhood trauma, forbidden love, sisterhood, grief, and the long arc of self-resurrection into a narrative that is as intimate as a whisper and as powerful as a storm surge.
Written in poems that flash like warning lights and soothe like prayer, this is the story of what it takes to leave a life that is killing you, and who you can become on the other side. Hanson lays bare the subtle mechanics of control disguised as care, the generational patterns that coil beneath our choices, and the imperfect, deeply human decisions that carve a path toward safety.
For anyone who has ever asked How did she get here?
For anyone who has ever whispered How do I get out?
For anyone standing at the edge of a life they can no longer endure:
This book is a permission slip.
Not for the perfect exit.
For the one that saves you.
Why I Wrote This Book
There is a quiet crisis happening in plain sight.
Too many women stay far too long in relationships that harm them — not because they don’t know something is wrong, but because leaving can feel more dangerous than staying. The threat of violence. The fear of judgment. The loss of community. The question of where you would even go.​
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I know this because I was one of them.
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I still remember standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner, pouring another drink for the man shouting from the couch in the next room. The sound of his anger filled the townhouse until my body folded in on itself. The dishwasher was cold against my back as I slid to the floor, unable to breathe, thinking: How did I get here? And how am I going to get out?
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At the time, escape felt impossible. I believed I would have to conjure a miracle.
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Conjuring the Hurricane is the book I needed then. It writes the permission slip for women to leave the men who call control love, to turn away from communities that disguise care as containment, and to choose their lives in whatever way they can.
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My hope is that readers find themselves in these pages, and in doing so, remember that their life is worth saving.​
Who This Book is For:
This book is for readers who:
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are tired of being brave in silence
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have outgrown a life they once worked hard to earn
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are navigating illness, grief, or identity shifts
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want language that honors both rage and tenderness
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are ready to give themselves permission, even without a map