Description: How is it possible for a highly educated woman with a career and resources of her own to stay in a marriage with an abusive husband? How can a man be considered a pillar of his community, run a successful business, yet regularly give his wife a black eye? The very nature of these questions proves our unarticulated assumption that domestic violence is restricted to the lower classes. When we do hear stories of high-profile victims, we regard them as exceptional cases and still believe abuse doesn't happen to "people like us". Now Susan Weitzman counters this assumption by exploring a heretofore overlooked population of battered wives -- the well-educated, upper-income women who rarely report abuse and remain trapped by their own silence.

With keen insight and sensitivity, Weitzman, a psychotherapist and educator, traces common patterns of behavior among this group -- their internal dilemmas and decisions, their dangerous desire to cover up abuse and maintain appearances. She shows how their abusive relationships follow a different course from those in other socioeconomic groups, and how these distinctions have profound implications for understanding the true nature of this behavior. Delving into the stories of these women -- wives of CEOs and attorneys, of physicians and professors, the women often professionals themselves -- Weitzman builds harrowing psychological profiles of both the abused and the abuser.

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