Torn from My Heart: The True Story of a Mother's Desperate Search for Her Stolen Children - Hardcover

Heymans, Patsy; Hoffer, William; Hoffer, Marilyn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446520063 ISBN 13: 9780446520065

Publisher: Grand Central Pub, 1996

Synopsis

Patsy Heymans was an innocent teenager when she met Chaim Yarden. The cocky, handsome Israeli soldier immediately swept her off her feet, and almost before she knew it, Heymans was married to him, living in Israel, and the mother of three young children.
But her life was far from idyllic. Her charismatic husband had a dark side that included a criminal record and a violent temper. Finally, after years of physical and emotional abuse, Heymans and her children fled to her parents' home in Belgium - her husband's warning ringing in her ears: "Whatever it takes, whatever it will cost, I will destroy your life."
He proved as good as his word. After their separation, her formerly nonreligious spouse joined the Satmar Hasidim, one of the most insular groups within the cloistered world of Hasidic Jews. With the help of his new confederates, he kidnapped his children, shuttling them through a self-contained and sprawling religious community. To get them back, Heymans would begin a tireless, heart-wrenching search across Europe and, ultimately, through the streets and suburbs of New York City.
Shunned by the Satmars, yet armed with a mother's fierce desperation, Heymans singlehandedly and painstakingly marshalled the forces of American and international law enforcement. Battling impossible odds, she finally found herself at the moment that would bring her to the end of her odyssey and to the turning point of her entire life: a closed door suddenly open, a hand on her hand, gently nudging her forward...

About this title

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Pub
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446520063
• ISBN 13: 9780446520065
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416