Surviving Domestic Violence: Voices of Women Who Broke Free

It's been going on 12 years since I escaped my abuser. I'm back to school now, working on a social work degree. I want to help others in ways I wanted to be helped back then. While researching material for a research paper on domestic violence I happened across this book. It came to me, along with several others, from the library, borrowed for research. From the moment I picked it up and sat down with the purpose to skim it for relevant data on a Friday night, until late Sunday night, when I finished it, I was riveted with the stories of the women who were told within the pages. I couldn't just skim with this book. I had to read every page of it, allowing it to dig up memories within myself that had been forcefully buried years ago. Dr. Weiss does an extraordinary job in telling the stories of these women without any "props" to make their reality any better or worse than what it was. I like the way she begins with her own story in the beginning and then, when telling the others', she uses examples from her relationship with her ex husband to emphasize just how much she identifies with the brave and courageous women who found often ingenious ways to escape from the oppression of their batterers. Dr. Weiss has the sensitivity and the writing skills to be able to articulate the often subtle aspects of domestic violence. She helps those readers who may not have been victims but who want to learn more about domestic violence to see that it is much more than about blatant physical battering. I want to thank Dr. Weiss for writing the book and honoring the lives of the women who are in it. I want to thank the women whose stories are told for being shining beacons to those who might read them and gather hope and strength from them. Perhaps the most powerful messages from Dr. Weiss' book are that women CAN escape from horrific battering circumstances; and that if you see a batterer victimizing their significant other in a public place, acknowledge it! Your acknowledgement could very well become the victim's beacon of light they focus on to find their way out of the darkness.

I have read almost every book published on this topic and find this one to be outstanding. As an advocate for domestic abuse survivors ,I hear similar stories everyday. I am humbled by their courage. Thank you Dr. Weiss. I plan to share your book with my Women's Support Group tonight.

I read about this book in our local newspaper and ordered a copy the same day. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. Elaine Weiss masterfully interviews each woman and interprets her situation with thoughtful candor. As a domestic violence survivor, this book was painful for me to read, but it reaffirmed for me that I made the right choice by leaving. This book was so well written and so compelling. I feel it is quite possibly the most "usable" book I have ever read on the subject of domestic violence. I highly recommend it!

I work in an industry where I see lots of staff members in domestic violence situations. This book shows the strategies and strength needed by women to get out of these situations. I will be using this book at work. For me, it answered a lot of questions about how women can leave, and why they don't leave (when others think they should). Well written and thoughtful book.