"In this book, Laura McClusky examines the lives of several Mopan Maya women in Belize. Using ethnographic narratives and a highly accessible analysis of the lives that have unfolded before her, McClusky explores Mayan women's strategies for enduring, escaping, and avoiding abuse. Factors such as gender, age inequalities, marriage patterns, family structure, educational opportunities, and economic development all play a role in either preventing or contributing to domestic violence in the village.

McClusky argues that using narrative ethnography, instead of cold statistics or dehumanized theoretical models, helps to keep the focus on people, "rehumanizing" our understanding of violence. This book brings to the social sciences new ways of thinking about, representing, and studying abuse, marriage, death, gender roles, and violence."--BOOK JACKET.