After 15 years in advertising sales, copy writing and management, as well as nearly two decades in journalism, and non-fiction writing and publishing, Izzy is finalizing her first novel….

SHAMEFUL

Theresa Shanahan returns to her upper-middle-class, upstate-New York family home to care for her dying mother after dropping out of college at the end of her sophomore year. Bristling at the return to small-town confinement and struggling to put her secret summer trauma behind her, she heads out for a night of drinking and dancing, where she meets Tony Montgomery, the band’s lead singer. They fall in love.

When her staid, Irish-Catholic parents discover that Tony is neither Caucasian nor Catholic, they throw her out of the house, and she moves in with Tony. Forbidden by him to work, she has no money or resources of her own. Her only friend is the woman next door, who is as well under the thumb of a controlling man.

The physical torment begins after Theresa tries to rescue her childhood friend Callie from Germany, where Callie is enduring abuse at the hands of her soldier husband. Pregnancy, emotional and physical abuse, and even suicide are part of the trauma that plague Theresa and her friends, as they struggle to escape.

Finally, Tony commits an offense so egregious, and so dangerous to others she cares about, that Theresa feels compelled to risk her life for their freedom and hers.

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Izzy Quinn is a survivor of domestic abuse, for which she suffered decades of shame in silence. Struggling to rebuild her self-esteem during the years when “sexual harassment” and “domestic abuse” weren’t even phrases, when domestic shelters didn’t exist, and when controlling men could treat their spouses as they saw fit without legal repercussion, Izzy kept her secrets.

Once she finally had the courage to share her story, she heard the same response over and over and over again: “That happened to me too.” Or, “My sister was killed my her abusive husband,” or “My father used to beat my mother,” and other variations of the same hideous tale.

What Izzy discovered in her many conversations and her ongoing research into abuse, is that despite legislation designed to prevent domestic abuse and punish abusers, the problem is actually on the rise. Young girls and women, unlike boys and men, have far too few mentors; far too few women teaching them to be self-sufficient, proud and empowered. Young boys and men get far too many messages that domination rather than equality is the path to manhood.

SHAMEFUL is based on Izzy’s story, and the story of other women who shared their experiences with her. While it is a novel, and as such, will, hopefully, captivate and entertain, its mission is as well to help young girls and women to recognize the signs of abuse, to escape their abusers, and to be their own heroes.