Domestic Abuse

Not too posh to punch

You can't tell from the framed photograph: a dark-haired and dashing man in his early 30s, smile cocked, cigarette dangling, brace held aloft, 12-bore under his arm. And if you drag your eyes from that snapshot, you can't tell from the drawing room, dotted with expensive coffee-table books, a spray of roses in a Chinese vase, a portly spaniel quietly out cold on the sofa. All is apparently peaceful and privileged, civilised and cultured. But it was in this Dorset living room that 'some appalling acts of violence' took place against its owner, Violet*, during her 18-year marriage. She is lucky to be alive. When she was 35, her husband smashed her face through a greenhouse window. When she lifts her fringe, you can see the white scars. …read the full article on Tatler