Who is the "Abuser" in the memoir, In the Dream House?

Machado does not name her abuser, but generally refers to her simply as "she" or "the woman from the Dream House" (10). This woman was a writer, like Machado, and applied to the Iowa Writer's Workshop but was not accepted. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington instead, but applied to Iowa again while Machado was still in a relationship with her and was accepted. She did move to Iowa after they broke up, but Machado does not provide any further details about these later events, as, presumably, she tried to avoid contact with the woman.