Born in Connecticut but a transplant to Minnetonka Beach in sixth grade, novelist Abby Fabiaschi (who now lives in Connecticut) uses her voice to explore difficult subject matter and advocate for human rights. Her first novel, I Liked My Life, published in February, was inspired by a tragedy from 20 years ago: the death of one of Fabiaschi’s closest childhood friends.
At age 15, Fabiaschi lost her close friend in a car accident. The experience pushed her to grow up quickly and to engage with her feelings of loss and guilt. “It remains a defining moment in my life,” she says.
She sees the ability of people to rebuild after trauma in her work as the board chair for Her Future Coalition. The organization’s mission is to shelter, educate and help find employment for survivors of human trafficking. “Wisdom gleaned from the girls and women that we work with—about resilience and tenacity and the amazing ability humans have to rebuild after trauma—certainly weaves into the narrative [of I Liked My Life],” Fabiaschi says of the relationship between her work and the novel. She says that her efforts with Her Future Coalition “now influence every word I say and type.”
