You Cannot Imprison an Eagle's Dream Emma, the main character in the book, grew up in a happy, loving household. Her fate takes a desperate turn toward the tragic when she marries a man she never loved. For more than thirty years, she stays with him, through insults and beatings, being watched and followed, forced to stay inside while her husband wanders free, betraying her. Emma lives like a prisoner, though she has committed no crime, and that makes it more painful than having committed the crime.. Though Alba Era's You Cannot Imprison an Eagle's Dream is a novel, it is based in real life. Emma's story reflects countless stories of victims of domestic abuse around the world. Era wrote this book to give voice to those real women, who face such tragedies, and to offer an appeal to those who have the power to put an end to this very bitter reality.