Lisa Barness

I wrote my first novel, Don’t Tell Ima, because I wanted to share my experiences with the public. Although most details were changed – or too crazy to include, on the whole, it is a true story.

Forced to recognize my family’s deteriorating situation, I began a protracted, often lonely, journey. Gradually I found the courage to protect my children, learn a trade in order to support them, entered counseling, and finally, disentangled myself from an abusive, betraying husband who had twisted a beautiful family’s life into a nightmarish web of secrets and lies.

I am sorry to say that this story is one that many other women are living today, and my fervent hope is that this book will lend encouragement and guidance to them and to those who love, counsel, or support them. I try to depict some of the warning signs that I myself missed in the hope of preventing others from falling into an utterly bewildering and painful relationship.

I was blessed when the rabbis and professionals in the field of domestic abuse who reviewed this book agreed that it is an eye-opening, realistic case study for those who deal with this type of abuse.

After many years of healing, I married a good man with whom I share a good, wholesome life and many wonderful grandchildren.

My prayer is that all of the women who suffer from abusive marriages will find their strength and voice. May God help us to know that we have within ourselves, and with the support of professionals and other good people, the power to defeat those who try to harm us.

Lisa Barness is a pen name.