Growing up on the family tree of an American dynasty did not protect D.T. Shanti from the darker legacies of sexual abuse, addiction, and domestic violence. This story is one of survival in the face of peril, redemption despite self-hatred, and the impact that abusive legacy has on establishing the trajectory of a child's life.

Whether she was walking the streets of her small hometown in North Carolina or being presented to American and international society in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City, her truth was hiding from everyone, including herself. Not only does she trudge through the darkness of alcoholism and an abusive marriage; she takes the reader on a journey of healing, making the choice to stand up for herself when it mattered the most.

Within these pages you will find inspiration in the poetry of Ms. Shantis life. You will wince and cheer, laugh and cry, and walk away with the hope that even a life lived in the shadows of your own mind can be brought into the light.