About The Book
These straightforward words—”I love you, but I am not in love with you“—can, in the blink of an eye, change the dynamics of a relationship and impact an entire family with lasting pain and loss.
My journey of rejection and abandonment left me deeply hurt and lost. I felt punished for feeling the pain. Abandoned not once, but repeatedly, I was left feeling lost and alone. I became a broken person, carrying false expectations and feeling the need to perform. Going through a not-so-amicable divorce in my fifties was especially challenging, made harder by my identity as a migrant Christian Indian woman with strong religious beliefs. I thought, “This cannot be happening to me. What will people say? Am I such a failure? In my culture, getting divorced will put a label on me.”
Some people call it “the Gray Divorce.” Blindsided after thirty years of marriage, I sank deeper into depression and anxiety, fighting for years to remain sane and obedient, which took a toll on my physical health. Until one day, my eyes opened to the truth: Why was I fighting for someone or something not meant for my next season? I crawled out of the darkness on my own. As I began healing from the abuse, while others played innocent, the damage lingered deeply in my thoughts, causing me to sink further into isolation. I decided to let go, push past the stigma of mental health, and choose to put myself first and grab onto peace. Through courage and faith, I no longer allowed my diagnosis or circumstances to limit me. Coming full circle, I chose not to remain silent but to use my voice on platforms to encourage and equip women walking alone in the journey of divorce and rejection. While trying to maintain a career and address my physical health, I leaned on my lived experiences to offer hope and sanity.
Learning to move from suffering in silence to opening and connecting with others with similar experiences provided me with an opportunity to share my journey of authentic, faith-based recovery and rehabilitation. Elevating the voices of those with lived experiences, this book offers coping strategies and practical support to help you achieve more with less. It will teach you to accelerate community-based approaches and strengthen functional recovery goals, with the hope of advancing lived experiences that offer culturally sound solutions to boost confidence. There is an opportunity to address the feelings linked to your trauma and live with total freedom, free from shame.
People with lived experiences wear their stories as badges of strength, resilience, and power. My voice today is not mine alone, but also those of my friends and mentors.
Abandoned at fifty-six after years of abuse, one woman’s journey reveals how loss, rejection, and heartbreak can become the doorway to healing, faith, and reclaiming your true self.
About Lorna
Lorna Archery is a mother of two adult sons, a Christian woman, author, and entrepreneur, she writes about healing, faith and rediscovering love after life’s unexpected endings. After navigating divorce in her fifties, she is passionate about helping women rebuild their identity, reconnect with God and step confidently into a new chapter proving it is never too late to begin again. She is a clinical nurse specializing in primary health care with a strong focus on mental health. Born in Durban, South Africa, she migrated to Australia with her family in 2008, where she began her academic journey, earning a Bachelor of Nursing and currently pursuing a Master’s in Nurse Practitioner Mental Health.
Lorna’s commitment to nursing is deeply rooted in her desire to help others, integrating her lived experience and faith-based interventions to support women dealing with grief, trauma, loss, divorce, and separation. Drawing on her expertise in intensive rehabilitation and trauma-informed care, she adopts recovery-oriented approaches to mental health challenges, empowering women to heal and thrive.
In 2021, Lorna faced the painful end of a 30-year marriage, prompting her to rebuild her career later in life, overcome financial loss, and navigate the uncertainty of moving cities. She openly shares her setbacks and journey, offering hope to women who walk alone—encouraging renewed hope, trust, self-care, and the possibility of finding love again. Lorna is passionate about improving women’s physical and brain health, inspiring them to find contentment in solitude, rise above rejection, and embark on journeys of faith and deliverance. She emphasizes the importance of breaking trauma bonds, overcoming patterns of narcissistic abuse, and ending cycles of family dysfunction.
Now residing in Brisbane City, Lorna works in a community mental health intensive rehabilitation setting, specializing in trauma-informed and recovery-oriented interventions, and is advancing her skills in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. As a chronic disease nurse, she educates women on the crucial link between physical and mental health. Lorna aims to empower women by sharing her story and developing personalized work-life balance tools, fostering faith and resilience to overcome life’s challenges. She plans to share her testimony through speaking engagements, podcasts, blogs, and workshops, providing practical tools for overcoming abandonment and loss after divorce.
Stay connected with Lorna Archery
Thank you for taking the time to read Abandoned. If these words have spoken to your heart, please know this – your story matters, and you are not alone.
Healing is not a journey we are meant to walk in isolation. If you would like to stay connected, receive encouragement, or share your own story, warmly invite you to reach out.
Before you go ….
If Abandoned has encouraged you in any way, here are a few simple ways you can continue the journey:
- Share this book with someone who may need hope right now
- Leave a review to help other women find support and healing
- Reach out – I would love to hear your story
Every voice matters. Every story counts. And every step forward – no matter how small- in a step toward reclaiming your life.
You are not abandoned. You are being restored.