I may have missed something but is this book fact or fiction? Are Caroline and Susan real people? The descriptive prose and dialog sound more like a novel than the retelling of actual events. It sounded very contrived.

This was an awesome book! I also was in an abusive relationship, beaten by a Born-again Christian husband. The church was aware of what he was doing. But because he was successful, no one said anything. And he was singing like a saint in the choir. I was counseled to try and be more submissive and not get him angry. I was negated and made to feel like his beating me was no big deal and life at church went on as usual. This book tells it like it is in many churches. Havens for absusive dominant sucessful men.

After reading Broken and Battered, I felt I had to run to every Abuse Shelter for miles around and inform every woman there that there was help for her and why should she be in this situation; depressed, angered, and bitter when she could find a way out.

This book is a Blessing and a real must for women in abused lives. Every Pastor should read it so that he or she might reach out to members of their congregation to spread the Word that Help Is There. I highly recommend that you read Broken and Battered and then pass it on to others who need to know that there is a way out and that others care about them.

The worst part about this book other than the insane family is the unrealistic ending. When a person commits a crime, no matter how severe, they still end up going to jail in handcuffs. A girl can say that she doesn't want her boyfriend to be handcuffed and it doesn't make a difference to the cop that is arresting the person. In the book, after Emma almost kills Anne and breaks two of Anne's fingers, Emma's brother Mark requests that the policeman not handcuff Emma on the way to jail. The policeman surprisingly agrees and takes her to jail in the back of the police car without handcuffing her. This obviously wouldn't happen because Emma is insane. Overall, I did like Anne and she was very considerate of Madeline's feelings towards Mark.

The story of Mark and Anne is really a good one--I was so glad to see Anne stay true to her convictions! However, the "Plot B" story of the murder mystery is just a little exasperating. In the end, Anne realizes that Emma is crazy (it takes her 169 pages to realize that??). But I'd say that the entire family is crazy, other than Mark! Having so many truly weird people in one book is unsettling and annoying. I was apalled at Emma of course, but I also found Tessie incredibly irritating, and that butterfly story about "Little Uncle" (whatever his real name was) makes him sound as insane as Emma herself. Why did the author put so many crazy people into this book? I found it hard to like Mark when I considered his background, and I was wondering, "Just HOW did he turn out normal?" However, back to Plot A, I really liked the idea of a girl having to break her engagement--it shows a lot of courage and Anne herself was likable enough. I just wish there would have been more emphasis on Plot A and less on the crazy family of Plot B. Not much here to re-read.

I liked the book because I think it is important for a Christian to marry a Christian. I think Muriel did a great job on telling us the importance of marrying Christian in an intresting story.