The novel The Breakable Vow, written by Kathryn Clark is based on a true story of young high school sweethearts from the south side of Chicago. Annie McGowan narrates her own story about her and Kevin Griffin's struggle as young teenage parents. On the outside they were a couple in love, working at maintaining a marriage and raising a child. As the story unveiled, I began to witness Kevin's verbal and physical abuse as well as Annie's detailed account of domestic violence.
Annie and Kevin met the summer before entering high school. Coincidently, their first encounter began by Annie making an excuse for Kevin. Annie's friend Rene accused Kevin of kicking her. Annie said Rene deserved it for pestering Kevin so much. Had she left him alone, he would have never had to kick her. This was only the beginning of the 8 years of excuses that Annie would make for Kevin. Annie was attracted to Kevin from the start; he was a tall, handsome jock. They fell in love with each other almost instantly. .
The first inclination of Kevin's jealousy became apparent, when Annie went to visit a college in Wisconsin. She planned to camp out with just her and her girlfriends. That night she was at a party when Kevin showed up. He had witnessed Annie speaking to another guy named Harold. He immediately accused Annie of wanting to cheat. Annie, of course, denied any attraction to Harold. Annie felt bad for Kevin so she agreed to sleep alone in the same tent as him. They ended up having sex for the first time, unprotected. Annie felt guilty and ashamed afterwards. .
About six weeks later Annie began to feel the symptoms of pregnancy. Kevin took her to a doctor but refused to go inside with her. She went through the examination, which confirmed her pregnancy, while Kevin waited in the car. Annie's father was told shortly after. Her sister Maureen broke the news to him. Her father was supportive, he made sure she went to confession and asked her how she was feeling everyday.
