The relating of life experiences that tore away the security and joy of family life that any child deserves was expected and poignant. In this child abuse book, you will discover: To the outside world, the author was a bright, popular, all-American adolescent. But at home, behind closed doors, lived another one - shamed, isolated, afraid - locked in a forbidden embrace from which there was no escape. It was a secret too terrible to silence. It had to surface, shattering her life, changing it radically - but with its release, bringing at last a new hope, not just to her and her family, but to all the people everywhere who will recognize themselves as they read her story. The real strength of the book was author's explanation of how these external experiences gradually drove her to make a conscious and personal choice to adopt a lesbian lifestyle. The powerful and life-changing influence of a selfish and thoughtless parent tore away her faith and trust in an entire gender.