This is the story of a woman who endures and tolerates domestic abuse and the effect that it has on her daughters who try to stop the cycle of abuse. One has to question why somebody would willingly stay in a relationship like this, especially given the radiating psychological effects it has on the rest of the family. The daughters, in particular, take all sorts of dangerous risks that I don't think would occur to somebody growing up in a stable environment. It seems like an all-too-common story - and a sad one. ( )

A searing novel about the love and contradictions of sisterhood, the intoxicating desires of adolescence, and the traumas that trap mothers and daughters in cycles of violence