Married to a Syrian, Vanessa, an American, is caught in the middle of a different culture and lifestyle. Living with an abusive husband and raising her children in his shadow is a struggle for survival. Her determination to succeed and to adapt to the dysfunctional family that she married into is a story of sacrifice, integrity, and perseverance. Leaving the country with her children is an impossibility, and then the Civil War transforms her life into a nightmare--a nightmare that might become the key to her escape.