Tell Me Of Brave Women Review & Giveaway

About the book

image obtained from author's website

                                                       

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: HB Stowe Press; Fiction edition (May 1, 2014)
• Language: English

In this exciting novel, three dynamic women stand up to old traditions and fight abuse in new ways. Samara, a famous storyteller, creates Secret Sisters, an underground society that shelters battered women in the Middle East. She's hunted for her beliefs and stalked for her beauty. Thelma, a tough waitress in Appalachia, witnesses a beating, gets a gun, and changes Samara's destiny forever. Evangelina, a South American teen, is forced to be a drug lords sex-slave until she's emboldened to flee to Secret Sisters. To escape, she must use a killer's own tactics against him. Through escalating dangers, the three heroic women battle abuse and wager their lives for liberty.

About the author

Laura Riley received her B.A. from UCLA, and her M.A. and PhD. degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Southern California. As a psychotherapist, lecturer and teacher, she has helped battered women become achieving women for more than three decades. Studying the status of women in eighty-nine countries, she's met survivors of violence everywhere and believes that abuse will only end when women unite against it. She writes to encourage them to come together and demand justice and equality with men. She loves art, fairy tales, reading, walking, traveling, gardening and listening to people talk. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Patrick, and their extended family. For more information about Laura and her work, please subscribe to Laura's blog, What Nana Knows at tellmeofbravewomen.com.


My thoughts

I was actually surprised to see how long the book was when I received it. However, once I started reading the book, I found that I couldn't put it down. I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next to Samara, Thelma, and Evangelina.

I knew the book would contain dark material because anything that focuses on abuse is not pleasant material. So I warn the readers out there that don't like reading sad and slightly disturbing books that this book will not give you a warm fuzzy feeling. What Tell Me Of Brave Women will give you is the feeling that you need to do something to end the abuse on women. It will make you think about your life and other women you encounter differently. Abuse will never end when society just ignores the problem. The author, Laura Riley, made the theme of the book that violence against women will never end until women start to unite against it. I do agree with this theme; however, I might disagree with the methods to achieve the goal of stopping abuse on women.

Laura Riley did an excellent job on writing a book of fiction to bring attention to how women are abused in different areas of the world. She captured the ways women can say no to the abuse and no longer accept the belief that they have to be a victim.The book made me sad, smile, and really contemplate on how I can make a difference in society.

This is one part of the book that I loved:

Evangelina watched Mother Dolores as the boys revealed their secrets. She was bent forward, looking at each in turn as he spoke and totally immersed in their troubles. No judgment or speculation crossed her face - just acceptance, human acceptance. Oh, to be wise like her.

I loved it because it shows how we need to accept and love each other more. It shows how sometimes we can jump to conclusions without knowing the full story. I definitely want to try harder on understanding, accepting, and loving everyone I meet.

Giveaway
-Open to US and Canada
-Ends 6-26-14 at 11:59 pm
-Winner has 48 hours to respond to the winning email before a new winner is chosen 

Entry-Form

Disclosure: I received the book mentioned in this post at no cost in order to do this review. All opinions are my own.