GENRE: Nonfiction/Autobiography
MY GRADE: A
SYNOPSIS: Reality hit Taylor Armstrong hard one tragic evening last August when she found the body of her estranged husband, Russell, hanging in his California home. Fans across the country were shocked at the horrific news of his death and even more shocked to discover that behind the glittering “reality” of Taylor’s life on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills lurked a painful story of emotional and physical abuse that she had been terrified to tell.
An estimated 80 percent of domestic abuse victims remain silent, suffocated by fear and relentless self-doubt. For Taylor, it was the threat of financial ruin and finding herself alone with her young daughter that kept her tethered to her volatile husband. But after a ferocious roundhouse punch from Russell fractured her face, resulting in reconstructive surgery, she finally made the brave decision to walk away from a man she loved and a legacy of physical abuse that she first encountered as a child and that haunted her throughout her adulthood.
To the outside world, the Armstrongs lived like royalty, throwing lavish parties—including a memorable tea party for their daughter’s fourth birthday—and mingling with their privileged Housewives co-stars. It was impossible to hide the cracks in their marriage from the cameras forever, though, and their darkest secrets slowly began to seep through the gilded façade.
With searing honesty, Taylor candidly examines her difficult journey from the abusive home in which she was born to the low self-esteem that kept her constantly on the run from herself, to the tumultuous marriage that ended in suicide, and ultimately to her realization that only by sharing her moving story could she help other women.
MY THOUGHTS: I know of Taylor from the reality show she’s on, The Real Housewives of Beverley Hills. I wanted to know more about her abusive deceased husband so that’s why I was interested in reading this. This is Taylor’s sad, emotional telling off all the abuse, both physical and verbal, that she suffered at the hands of her mentally ill husband, who later committed suicide.
Russell was a poor, pathetic excuse for a human being and it’s too bad Taylor couldn’t leave him years sooner. Only after he caused her to need surgery on her eye did she finally see the light and leave him and he hanged himself not long after. Taylor is a smart, educated woman and hopefully she’ll stay in therapy indefinitely.
I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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