“I hope my story won't be yours.”

Expensive homes. Household help. First-class travel. Gorgeous clothes and exquisite jewelry. Everyone thought Nunzia Mondo had it all.

No one knew about the constant, corrosive verbal abuse she endured from her husband. No one knew about the black eyes she suffered at his hands.

The cumulative effect on Nunziaof thirty years of emotional and physical violence was confusion, physical ailments, and destruction of her self-esteem. Unable to share her reality with others, she convinced herself that she was inherently faulty. Who would have believed her anyway?

My Silent Prison is more than one woman's memoir of persevering through a living hell. With self-deprecating wit and empathy, Nunzia shines a spotlight on the darkness of living through spousal abuse, illuminating the way for others in similar situations to do what she ultimately did: escape decades of captivity and reclaim her life.