Abused: Trapped in Innocence

N. M. Wallace was a generally happy child. Her family was poor, but they got by. Her childhood was marred, however, by her mother's suffering at the hands of an emotionally and physically abusive partner.

She had no intention of falling into the same trap as her mother, who only escaped when her youngest son was twelve. Yet years later, Wallace would find herself the victim of emotional, physical, and psychological torture at the hands of a man who should have been a trusted life partner.

Abused is Wallace's story, a cautionary tale of the horrors of abuse and the role religion played in both enabling her torture and ultimately setting her free. Far from preventing violence, church attendance gave her abuser cover from which to operate. Yet Wallace believes that without God's intercession, she would have ended life in either an asylum or the grave. And if her faith saved her, it was her mother's own firm convictions in the face of constant abuse that inspired her.

A remarkable story of breaking the cycle of domestic abuse, Wallace's story offers a simple, powerful message to victims of abuse: get out now, while you still can.