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Scars of Silence
Mary Ann Worsham
By Andrea Palos
Scars of Silence: An Amazing Story of Survival by Mary Ann Worsham
is just that, an amazing tale. This memoir offers up a veritable laundry
list of unimaginable hardships, violence and misfortune, nearly unfathomable
to befall one human being. Worsham shares the darkest moments of her
life, including sexual harassment in the workplace, the demise of her
marriage, physical and verbal abuse, natural disasters, her attempted
murder, and struggle to reclaim normalcy after devastating injury and
alcoholism.
Mary Ann’s story begins with her fledgling relationship to John,
her first husband. Her introduction to heartache comes in the form of
an unwanted pregnancy ending in abortion. She goes on to have two sons
under difficult circumstances and proceeds through a 13-year marriage
of abuse and tragic instances. During these times, she discovers that
funeral services is her calling and dedicates her life to earning her
degree. She accomplishes her goal, but the marriage suffers. Amidst
a bitter separation and custody battle for their sons, John enters Mary
Ann’s home during the night and attacks her with a hammer and a
knife, leaving her all but dead. After a five-month investigation and
two painstaking trials, John is finally convicted, but Mary Ann must
work through posttraumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and intense rehabilitation
to get her life back on track.
The second half of the book is an outline of resources to assist those
who may have had similar issues. Everything from suicide and abuse hotlines
to information on drug and alcohol abuse, emotional disorders and even
head injuries. Worsham speaks openly of religion as a way out, and has
even dedicated her book to “my best friend and Savior, Jesus Christ”.
As inspirational as it may be to read of Mary Ann’s climb from
despair, her story lacks the true emotion that leads a reader to commiserate
or connect with her tragedy. Written like a police report, Mary Ann
delivers her fate to read like a recipe book, with one awful event followed
by another. Despite experiences that warrant respect and compassion,
the reader is left assuming we understand what the author must have
felt without really being privy to that emotion.
Scars of Silence is an effective self-help tool for fellow victims
and a voyeuristic read for ambulance chasers.
Rating: *** (Good)
Bridgeway Books, 2006 (ISBN: 1933538627)
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