Conjuring the Hurricane
A memoir-in-verse about leaving, surviving, and rebuilding from the storm up
Conjuring the Hurricane
A memoir-in-verse about leaving a life that hurts and rebuilding from the storm up.
What This Book Holds
A memoir-in-verse about the quiet terror of staying, the truth of leaving, and the work of becoming free.
When Sarah Hanson realized the life she was living was no longer survivable, she didn’t have a plan—only instinct, fear, and a quiet voice insisting she deserved more.
Conjuring the Hurricane traces what it takes to leave, and what it takes to rebuild after. Written in poems that move between memory and meaning, it tells the story of becoming free one decision at a time.
This book is a permission slip. Not for the perfect exit. For the one that saves you.
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:
Why I Wrote This Book
There is a quiet crisis happening in plain sight.
Too many women stay—not because they don’t know something is wrong, but because leaving can feel more dangerous than staying.
I know this because I was one of them.
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?
At the time, escape felt impossible. I believed I would have to conjure a miracle.
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.
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 carrying things alone
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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 can hold both rage and tenderness
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are ready to give themselves permission, even without a map
For Book Clubs: Read This Book Together
This book was written to be read in conversation.
If your group is navigating the question of when something is no longer working—and what it takes to leave and begin again—I’d love to be part of that room.
“This book became part of the map guiding me back to my own heart.”
-Reader Review
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Discussion guide included in the book
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Optional author Q&A (virtual or in-person)
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Flexible formats for different group styles
If you’d like to bring this book into your group, you can invite me here: