Cry Salty Tears

The abuse went on for years, decades, and the beatings and jealousy got so bad I began to believe it was my fault. I had no friends or family, only him, so I learned not to answer back and covered my hair with a scarf and wore dowdy clothes and no make-up. That way no one would look at me. If anybody paid me attention I knew I would get it from him later.

Cry Salty Tears is the tale of a mother's survival and eventual triumph over almost unbelievable domestic hardship. Not only did Dinah O'Dowd face the harsh and unforgiving elements of her background an upbringing in poverty-stricken 50s Dublin, teenage pregnancy and a lone journey to London, but she also fought like a tigress against the shadows cast across four decades of her life by the dark central figure of her existence, her psychotically abusive husband Gerry.

Over the years, Dinah suffered repeated physical assault, prolonged mental torture and destructive ignorance, yet successfully raised a family of six and nurtured the unique personality of a world superstar, her son Boy George. Finally, she has reached equilibrium in the wake of the death of her husband, and is now ready to tell her story, striking a chord with women everywhere.