From the outside, life with a world-famous professional wrestler could appear exciting: international travel, wrestling tours, public recognition, beautiful homes, and unforgettable experiences. Behind that image, Evonna Hedbavny Race was living a far more complicated reality.

Life With a King begins long before Harley Race entered her life. Evonna takes readers into a Wisconsin childhood surrounded by alcohol, family conflict, domestic violence, and loneliness. She recalls the comfort she found in music, work, and especially her grandfather Fred Smith, the self-taught artist who founded Wisconsin Concrete Park and became one of the strongest influences in her life.

Her memoir then follows her career as a flight attendant, her introduction to Harley, their marriage, international wrestling tours, motherhood, and the gradual deterioration of a relationship marked by alcoholism, infidelity, control, and violence. Eventually, a devastating boating incident becomes part of the turning point that pushes Evonna toward escape, divorce, and legal protection.

What follows is not simply an ending. It is Evonna’s account of speaking publicly about abuse, confronting painful family consequences, and learning what it means to survive, heal, and regain independence.