It isn't often a book is so poignant that it brings me to tears, but D.J. Wilson's Flight to Freedom did. Beautifully written, it had me riveted from the first page.

This is the story of Montana Jeffers who murders her husband, Harland. She knows what she's done; she doesn't deny it. She killed him because she thought he deserved it and now she's prepared to suffer the consequences.

When Montana is arrested and taken to jail, it hardly registers that Phillip Kane, a tax lawyer whom she has met previously, is going to represent her defense. In any case, she hardly cares. What defense has she? As far as Montana is concerned, she is 100% guilty.

Gradually, during discussions with Phillip, the horrendous events in Montana's life, which began before she was fifteen in a foster home, are revealed: Just as she begins to turn her life around, she is introduced to Harland Jeffers who pursues her in a macabre courtship until she marries him. From that point on, Montana's life swirls in a downward spiral to a nightmarish existence--because exist is all she can do, and then barely. Unable to tell anyone the dark secrets of her marriage, every time Harland hurts or threatens her, there comes a dulling of the mind, a shutting down of the emotions and a withdrawal from her friends. She becomes just a shell of a person.

In hindsight, Montana blames herself for being so 'weak and stupid' yet Phillip's persistent and thorough investigation shows her that she was ill-equipped to deal with everything life threw her. He also sows the seed in her mind that her future need not be as bleak as she imagined. Through his gentle encouragement she also begins to take a new interest in life.

D. J. Wilson's Flight to Freedom is gently penned but with honest clarity when she addresses the heartbreaking issues that too many women face: rape, incest, and the sickening consequences of those events. Ms. Wilson portrays an unbiased and balanced view of her main male characters too; both Harland and Phillip have seen abuse in different ways. But whereas Phillip grows beyond what he has seen, doesn't take on the role of his father and vows to help abused women, Harland is of a different nature. Horribly abused by his own mother, his spirit becomes mean and twisted. Yet surely that is no excuse, for he is an adult and must know that what he is doing is wrong?

Flight to Freedom is a must read, not only for women who may be about to enter a destructive relationship or who might have doubts about a relationship they are in, but also for those of us who are in safe, healthy relationships. It is a grim reminder for us to be forgiving and understanding, and to have compassion for those women who are so trapped: there but for the grace of God…

I highly recommend this book and without a doubt give it ten quills.

Celia A. Leaman
© May 2008