House of Wounded Hearts is required reading for anyone who is subjected, or ever was, involved with alcoholics, domestic violence, verbal abuse, drugs, attempted suicide, a victim of stalking, or lived enmeshed in dysfunctional families or guilt-tripped or guilt-ridden. She relives her childhood growing up on the North Dakota plains, the granddaughter of immigrants and pioneers. Apparitions of the Virgin Mary and Jesus to members of her family, and her own encounter with the White Light, inspire her to rise above overwhelming challenges. A major automobile accident changes her destiny when she dies on the operating table and makes a promise to the White Light in exchange for additional life and is resurrected on Easter Sunday. Severe injuries cripple her right side, and she is scarred for life after going through the windshield. She heals herself becoming a living, medical miracle. Nadine suffers retrograde amnesia from the auto accident and does not remember that she is engaged to her first love, Perry, instead, she believes she is with another high-school sweetheart, Don. She is unable to distance herself from her dysfunctional family. She marries her best friend's brother to avoid being murdered by him. After an incident of domestic violence, forced to hide from him, unable to hold a regular job, she earns a living gambling and dancing until the marriage is annulled. She marries Don so he can avoid the Vietnam draft. The government changes the rules so he is drafted. She works three jobs to pay-off their bills. She joins Don in Germany and works for the United States Army for the second in command. Nadine and Don divorce after returning to the USA. She begins taking college courses while working. Once again, she is the victim of stalking. Nadine flees and opens a boutique on the beach in Newport Beach with a borrowed $250.00, called The Idle Id. She marries a lawyer, Stephen, whose teenage daughter comes to live with them and work at The Idle Id retail store. A polygraph scares the daughter into confessing massive stealing from the store. She becomes a pioneer designing and manufacturing Idle Id Iron-Ons. Opening iron-on departments nationwide for a major retailer, she is raped and stalked by a powerful Vice President who forces her company to go bankrupt. It is a gut-wrenching, frightening, compelling, painful, powerful, thought-provoking, and strangely healing book for the reader. Her journey details pain, anguish, sorrow, strife, and evil. Reading it is often painful and shocking, yet outrageous and sensitive. There are cherished moments of tenderness where her love for life shines through, her will to survive and overcome, overshadows the tragedies that fill her life. Her struggles are affirmations of hope, sprinkled with humor and the irony of life as she meets her destiny and continues to fulfill her promise to the White Light. This book takes us through the gamut of emotions and leads us to the realization that life is precious. Each of us really can endure, we realize we are incredibly strong and most of all; each of us do have worth. House of Wounded Hearts is an indictment against alcohol and domestic violence. It is an affirmation that in dealing with our pain, we reach for joy, peace, freedom, truth, sanity, and ultimately healthy relationships