Delilah O'Reilly is a bright, beautiful, young woman attending school at the Annex, the sister school of Harvard, in 1890. She lives happily with her father; her mother's demise having coincided with her birth. She is wooed by a handsome, wealthy older man and when they marry, she feels as if she is living a fairy tale; her already perfect life achieving unimagined heights. The euphoria is short lived and she discovers that her husband is not merely manipulative and possessive, he is an abusive monster. She flees Boston and his sadistic cruelty, fearing for her life. She seeks obscurity in the vastness of the Wild West, alone and equipped with only her desperation and her horse. Dancing with the Elephants is a suspenseful, romantic adventure that follows her terror and triumphs as she struggles to forge a path through the wilderness