When Deborah Thomson met Wayne, she was a shy, introverted 24-year-old student. He was a loud charismatic young man.

His temper was an issue but one she hoped they could work on. Four years later, the married couple now ran a business together, and their first child was born.

Yet, any dreams of peaceful family life were quickly crushed by Wayne's increasingly violent and controlling behaviour.

Life turned into a cycle of hope, fear and pain, and her marriage into a prison from which there was no escaping.

It lasted 17 years.

Based on the journals the author kept throughout the ordeal, Whose Life Is It Anyway is a chilling memoir of her agonising years living and working with her abuser.

"A powerful, frightening story, highlighting a world I do not understand, fortunately a world the author has escaped from." - Ian Waller, Burnie, Tasmania