So many emotions as I read If I Am Missing or Dead (A Sister’s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation) by Janine Latus. Anger, sadness, disbelief.
And as I read, a haunting ghost came from my past.
A woman I knew when I worked at a Christian bookstore. Me a college co-ed. She a mother of two. A wife. Both of us Christians. We talked, but never really shared intimate stories of our lives. Then one night that all changed. A co-worked told me of her secret, swore me not to tell. That night, I saw a different woman than the one I knew from the store. The black eye told me more than I could have guessed.
I’d forgotten about her until I picked up this book and read of how these two sisters endured physical and mental abuse from various men in their lives. This book made me grateful – my loving husband, the example my father set with my mom. I have what many do not.
As much as this book is about domestic violence, it’s a story of self esteem and feeling comfortable in your own skin as a woman. Often, it’s difficult to read – horrifying is the best way to describe what Latus survived, especially as a girl. Horrible, yet so important.
This one will go on the shelf for my daughters to read one day.
Then their brothers can read it as well.
Author Janine Latus’ website is If I am Missing or Dead.com
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I’ll put this on the book list for later. Way later. When I can handle it.
Heathers last blog post..Podcast: The Story of Your Life, Part Four
Wow, that sounds like a great book.
I know it’s a heavy read, but WOW… give me a true life memoir any day over some of the other trivial stories out there.
And the way Latus presents the story, you can tell she’s a journalist (which she is). Very straight forward in it’s telling. I wish I could give everyone a copy of this book who wanted one.
Wow–powerful.
we read this for my book club and i loved it, it was a great book and your review is spot on, so much about self esteem. i have 2 girls and i am very concerned about their self esteem. i grew up with a father (who i love dearly and is a big teddy bear now) hit and yell and treated my mom very poorly. i understood many of their feelings and why they feel into some things.
feeners last blog post..No undies…
Yup, there was a definite connection between how the father treated them and how they stayed in those horrible relationships.
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