Shattered Dreams: The Story of Charlotte Fedders

by Charlotte Fedders, L.M. Elliott

Illuminating the problem of wife abuse, the wife of former powerful federal government lawyer tells the story of her seventeen-year marriage to a man who often beat her

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

248 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1987

Reviews

[Sonja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't read this book word by word - mostly perused through it but got the gist of the whole thing. I know we all wonder how women can take abuse and think it's all their fault but it still makes one angry that these smart women can't see that it isn't their fault. This gal's husband was awful. How she lived through all those years, doing the best job she could, having all those kids, and not sticking up for herself is really hard to understand. In a way, I can see it - divorce turns one's life all upside down but the consequences of staying with an abuser is far worse. I'm just glad she finally got herself and her boys away from the abuser. And then the husband made it so hard for her to get the divorce finalized and was so stingy so boot. There should be a special hell for people like that.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of an abused woman. Her husband was a successful lawyer, then left to work for the government. It proves that it doesn't matter how rich or poor you are, abuse is everywhere. It took a long time before Charlotte made her way out, but she did. Interesting story.

[Julie Vavroch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha- the more I read, the more I seem to disagree with other reviewers on goodreads...
I am thankful I read this book. I think my interest in it stems from seeing various people that I have known over the years, represented in this dominant, mentally ill, "successful" by worldly standards of wealth, accomplishment, and intelligence, yet a coward who beat his wife, psychologically and physically. I was very interested in the writers' (Charlotte was the wife in the story, co authored with Laura Elliott) portrayal of the roles that women played in marriages, and the depiction of and mysogynistic views of abuse in the late 1970's and 80's in America. I had to continually remind myself that is when this true story took place, not 100 years early, as it often seemed. Charlotte wrote her story just a year or two after finally exiting the harmful marriage. Full of candor, true to the times, and an interesting look inside the life of a woman who, by the standard of many, had "it all together," yet she was suffering so deeply.

[Hasana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her story caught my attention way before I became actively interested in politics. Her story is worth reading.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non fiction. About abused women

[Sheila Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very scary for the times of what was expected of a wife and the natural "lessons" (abuse) she took before realizing that she was being abused.

[Cynthia Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good story but had lots of unnecessary information that I didn't feel needed to be told. Otherwise, the book was a good read.