What had she done? Alone, scared, sitting in the holding cell of the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Department, Iris Harris never imagined she would be trapped in a battering relationship. Her life was not without struggles but by her forties she was content and fulfilled, teaching inner city children in the City of Detroit. A chance encounter, in a small mid-Michigan town, with an older outwardly pleasant and charming real estate agent, plunged her into a nightmare of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. She became his possession. It was the seventies. The legal system was impotent to render assistance. Society was incapable of understanding the dynamics of domestic violence and unwilling to intervene. To her friends and neighbors she was the one at fault. Iris was ensnared in a vicious cycle of abuse. Her only wish-to be free. Her only hope-to be found not guilty. PHILIP J. CROWLEY is a practicing attorney living in Tampa, Florida, specializing in professional liability defense. A Michigan native, Mr. Crowley served as Kalkaska County, Michigan Prosecuting Attorney in the late seventies and early eighties. During his term in office he prosecuted numerous cases of domestic violence. This book is inspired by true events. KENNETH C. WYLIE, a freelance writer, served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone 1961-1963, has studied and traveled in Africa over five decades, and is the author of several books, including "An Enchanting Darkness" (with Dennis Hickey), 1993. He received his PhD in African History in 1967 at Michigan State University. He has taught at Wayne State University, Lehman College of City University of New York, Maritime College of State University of New York, and Michigan State University.