Marie Elizabeth Quartey

Marie Elizabeth Quartey | Author of She Who Laughs Last | Memoirist of Survival & Top books of Healing | Voice for Women Rising from Abuse

Before the world knew her as a voice for survivors, Marie Elizabeth Quartey was just another woman holding everything together, a growing business, a young family, a hopeful heart. On the outside, things looked steady. But behind closed doors, Marie was quietly unraveling in a life that was slowly draining her spirit.

She had built something meaningful from almost nothing, co-founding a call and business center in North West London on a tight budget and sheer determination. What started as a promising partnership with her then-boyfriend-turned-husband flourished into a trusted local hub. Yet with every milestone in business came another crack in her personal life.

Marie’s husband wasn’t just difficult, he was emotionally abusive, manipulative, and showed signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). What unfolded behind the curtain was a toxic cycle of gaslighting, fear, and control, one that became so familiar it felt like love. This wasn’t just a marriage; it was a trauma bond, and Marie was trapped.

Friends saw the smiling photos, the work achievements, the strong exterior. No one knew that every success she celebrated was shadowed by emotional harm she couldn’t escape. And when she tried to speak up, the world around her, even some of those closest to her made her question her own reality.

But Marie’s story was never meant to end in silence.

When Cancer Became Her Catalyst

For most people, a cancer diagnosis feels like the end. For Marie Elizabeth Quartey, it was the beginning.

At a time when she was already emotionally depleted, physically exhausted, and spiritually lost, life handed her something she never saw coming, breast cancer. But what should have broken her became the one thing that saved her.

Cancer forced Marie to slow down. To be still. To listen to the pain, she’d buried beneath years of emotional abuse. And in that stillness, something profound happened, she saw the truth of her life clearly for the first time.

Suddenly, the masks fell away. The justifications for her partner’s cruelty didn’t hold up anymore. The gaslighting that had convinced her she was the problem began to fade under the harsh light of reality. Cancer stripped her down, yes but it also revealed a woman who had been fighting silently for far too long.

This wasn’t just a battle for her health. It was a battle for her freedom.

The treatments, the surgeries, the moments staring at the ceiling in hospital rooms, they weren’t just about survival. They were moments of rebirth. And in the depths of her fear, Marie found a strange kind of clarity: she didn’t want to die in that prison of silence. She wanted to live, fully, freely, and on her own terms.

Cancer, in all its cruelty, became her catalyst. It gave her the strength to finally say: enough.

Breaking the Bond – Leaving the Narcissist

Trauma bonds don’t always look like chains, sometimes, they feel like loyalty. Like obligation. Like love twisted into something unrecognizable.

Marie Elizabeth Quartey knows this a bit too well.

For years, she was entangled in an emotionally abusive relationship with a man who wore two faces, one for the world, and one for her. Outwardly, they ran a business together, raised children, and appeared to live a stable life. But behind closed doors, Marie was slowly disappearing. Her husband, who exhibited clear signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), kept her tethered with manipulation, gaslighting, and control that seeped into every corner of her existence.

She wasn’t just a wife. She was a survivor, long before she even realized what she was surviving. What made it harder was that the abuse didn’t always come from where you’d expect. Sometimes, the narcissist finds allies in the most unlikely people and for Marie, this only deepened her isolation.

But when cancer cracked open the facade, Marie began to see the truth: the person who was supposed to love her was the one destroying her. And in that realization, something shifted. She chose herself, for the first time in a long time.

Leaving wasn’t easy. It was a storm of fear, guilt, and the terrifying unknown. But Marie walked through that storm, for her children, for her healing, and for the woman she was becoming. Severing the trauma bond wasn’t just an act of courage, it was a declaration: I deserve better. I will be free.

She Who Laughs Last: A Memoir of Survival and Awakening (Coming Soon)

There’s pain in these pages but there’s power too.

She Who Laughs Last: The Journey to Freedom is more than Marie Elizabeth Quartey’s memoir. It’s a lifeline for anyone who’s ever been trapped in silence, love-starved in their own home, or lost inside a relationship that made them question their worth.

In this raw and unflinching story, Marie shares how she survived life with a narcissistic abusive spouse escape story spouse, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Readers will walk with her through the shadows of gaslighting, manipulation, and emotional abuse. They’ll feel the weight of her cancer diagnosis, and the light that broke through when she realized: this was not the end, it was her way out.

With a foreword by award-winning author and speaker Vishal Morjaria, the book is one of the best memoirs to read. It’s a bold testament to what it takes to leave what’s hurting you and rebuild your life with nothing but courage, faith, and truth.

Every chapter is a window. Every word is a hand extended to the reader.

Coming soon: Healing begins with stories like this. Stay connected with Marie Elizabeth Quartey for exclusive content, author insights, and the latest updates on her powerful upcoming release She Who Laughs Last.

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A Cancer Diagnosis That Set Her Free: The Illness That Became Her Liberation

Sometimes, what looks like the worst thing that could happen… becomes the very thing that saves you.

Marie Elizabeth Quartey didn’t just fight cancer, she found freedom through it.

When her diagnosis came, it was terrifying, a moment that cracked her world open. But that crack let the truth in. It forced her to pause, to reassess, to ask herself what kind of life she was really living. And what she realized was this: she had been surviving, not living. Her body was breaking down because her spirit had been under siege for years.

Cancer became her wake-up call, her mirror, her miracle.

It stripped away every excuse she had used to stay. It demanded a different kind of bravery, not just to face a life-threatening illness, but to finally walk away from a relationship that was quietly killing her soul.

In those moments of treatment and reflection, Marie chose herself, perhaps for the first time in a long time. She chose healing over hurt. Peace over pretending. And in doing so, she discovered the strength that had always been inside her.

Her story isn’t just about surviving disease. It’s about breaking generational silence. It’s about choosing to live, wholly and unapologetically.

And that’s the real healing.

Breaking the Trauma Bond: Finding Strength in the Deepest Wounds

Leaving isn’t always the hardest part. Believing you deserve to leave, that’s where the real war is fought.

For years, Marie was trapped in a cycle of emotional manipulation and psychological control. Her relationship wasn’t marked by visible scars, but by subtle silences, unspoken fears, and a constant state of walking on eggshells. That’s the cruelty of trauma bonding, it confuses love with control, safety with submission.

She knew something was wrong but she also knew the world rarely believes women who say, “He’s not who he pretends to be.”

The man who had once stood beside her in business had become the architect of her isolation. His charm masked deep emotional abuse. And yet, like so many survivors, Marie clung to hope. To memories. To moments that made her doubt her own pain.

But cancer stripped away the noise and, in its silence, she heard herself clearly for the first time in years.

Breaking the trauma bond wasn’t one decision, it was a series of small acts of courage. Choosing to speak her truth. Choosing to protect her children from the same cycles. Choosing to live a life that no longer required shrinking to survive.

Marie’s escape wasn’t just physical. It was psychological. Emotional. Spiritual. She didn’t just walk away, she rose.

And every woman still waiting for her moment? Marie wrote this part of her story for them.

A Voice for Survivors: Marie Elizabeth Quartey

Marie Quartey resilience journey isn’t just sharing her story; she’s reclaiming space for every woman who has ever lived in silence. Her voice, calm but unshakable, speaks to those who’ve endured emotional manipulation, gaslighting, and the invisible ache of psychological abuse. She understands the quiet pain of trying to survive in a home that feels more like a battleground, the confusion of loving someone who only knows how to break you down, and the fear of leaving when your identity feels completely tangled in theirs.

What makes Marie a powerful voice for survivors is her empathy. She doesn’t just tell people to leave, she shows them how it’s possible, even when the cost feels too high. Her journey is proof that healing doesn’t happen in a straight line, but it does happen. By opening up about her trauma bond, her emotional scars, and how cancer unexpectedly became her wake-up call, she creates space for others to breathe and believe in freedom again.

Marie writes and speaks with the tenderness of someone who’s lived it and the clarity of someone who’s come out on the other side. Her story isn’t about blame, it’s about breaking the cycle. And in doing so, she becomes a mirror for so many others who are still trying to find their way out.

Marie Elizabeth Quartey