LETTING GO OF THE PAST

Twenty-five years ago I worked as a social worker in a battered women's shelter in New York State. Besides psychotherapies with the women's issues regarding the domestic violence they encountered in their lives, I conducted family therapies and individual therapies with their children. My interest in working with these women was due in fact that I, also, had been a victim of violence for twenty years. It is estimated that one out of four women in the United States is beaten, slapped, punched or has her life threatened in her lifetime. Many of the children of violent partners also are abused. In my biographical novel, Letting Go, I portray a female character, Margery, who is a victim of violence, and how she overcomes her abuse by leaving her long-term marriage with her daughter Lola. Lola has also been beaten and abused emotionally by her father. It is hoped you will take an interest in this book as it shows how life really is for women married to batterers.