TORN FROM MY HEART

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...

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French