Sexual assault victim to tell story in Naperville
Chessy Prout was a freshman at an elite New Hampshire prep school when she was sexually assaulted in 2014 in a case that shook the school, alumni and community.
Prout has since written about her experience in a book called "I Have the Right To." She will discuss the book and her efforts to reclaim her life when she speaks at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, at North Central College's Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St., Naperville. Her appearance is sponsored by Anderson's Bookshop.
Helping to tell Prout's story is Jenn Ableson, an investigative reporter for The Boston Globe, who also works on the paper's Spotlight Team.
Tickets are required and available exclusively at ChessyProutAndersons.brownpapertickets.com.
In the book, Prout tells a visceral story of sexual assault, justice and healing in a gut-wrenching memoir.
In 2014, Prout was a freshman at St. Paul's, a prestigious boarding school, when a senior boy sexually assaulted her as part of a ritualized game of conquest. Prout reported her assault to the police and testified against her attacker in court.
Then, in the face of unexpected backlash from her once-trusted school community, she shed her anonymity to help other survivors find their voices.
The memoir takes a magnifying glass to the institutions that turn a blind eye to such behavior and a society that blames victims rather than perpetrators.
Prout's presentation is one of several author visits Anderson's is hosting in the coming weeks at its three locations: 5112 Main St., Downers Grove; 26 S. La Grange Road, La Grange; and 123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville. Here's a look at the schedule:
• Jacqueline Alacantara and Baptiste Paul discuss and sign "The Field," a book about soccer with a Caribbean flair, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, in La Grange.
• Geoff Rodkey discusses and signs "Stuck in the Stone Age," a middle-grade comedy about modern characters transported in time, at 7 p.m. March 15 in Downers Grove.
• Australian authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff discuss and sign copies of "Obsidio," the conclusion to their "The Illuminae Files" young adult science fiction series," at 7 p.m. Friday, March 16, in La Grange.
• Kate Moore discusses and signs "Radium Girls," which tells of the lifetime of suffering faced by women hired to paint radium markings on watch dials, at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 18, in Naperville. The book is now in paperback.
• Author and illustrator Brendan Wenzel discusses and signs "Hello, Hello," his picture book celebrating animal life, at 7 p.m. Monday, March 19, in Naperville.
• Award-winning and best-selling author Peter Brown discusses and signs copies of "The Wild Robot Escapes," in which technology and nature collide, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, in Naperville.
• Co-authors Nina Brochmann and Ellen Stokken Dahl, experts in female anatomy, discuss and sign "The Wonder Down Under" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, in Naperville.
• Debut novelist Emily Belden, who hails from the Western suburbs, discusses and signs her novel "Hot Mess," a romance set in the kitchen of an up-and-coming restaurant, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22, in Naperville.