Time to Stop Pretending

I could not put this book down until I was finished. It is a very powerful and touching story that not only deals with the vicious cycle of domestic violence but also conveys the hopelessness of poverty and the dynamics of religious dependencies. The author's writing style is very personal and easy to read, almost as if she were right there telling you the story herself. Time to Stop pretending should be required reading for anyone considering a career in social work, law enforcement or related fields. Time to Stop Pretending is an excellent book.

One of the first books to tell us something new about the process of battering since Lenore Walker's classic twenty years ago. Rodriguez's autobiography is a beautifully written, stark, reflective memoir of her parents' abusive marriage as well as her own life with a battering husband and the effects on their eight children. No easy answers here, no excuses, no pop psychobabble, no sentimentality Ultimately a victory of the author's humanity. This book was begun in writing classes when the author, in mid-life, started college in an urban university. Thought- and discussion-provoking for those interested in autobiography, in American personal essays, in women's issues.