Tatae's Promise

"Raised to believe she's a no-account, Marsha Jacobson falls prey to an assistant dean at her college, who knows a pushover when he sees one. Afraid to say no, she agrees to marry him and move to Japan. A chance meeting with a Mattel Toys executive leads to a high-stakes job, and as success boosts her confidence, Peter becomes more abusive. After they return to America, she escapes from him with their two toddlers, chased by police. Three years later, a single parent with a serious health emergency, she earns an MBA. Feeling a true sense of herself for the first time, Marsha launches a significant career and reconnects with Jay, a former colleague and recent widower. They marry and have many joyful years together-until Jay's buried past comes to get them and their life together starts to crumble. Ignoring harsh truths as things deteriorate, she insists they'll make it to the other side of this hard time with their marriage intact. Then the true calamity they're facing becomes apparent and shatters her. With time, reflection, and the ability to recognize support when its offered, she emerges from her grief sure-footed and able to have a happy, fulfilling life. In this compelling, generous, and, above all, inspiring memoir, Marsha reckons with the way trauma spreads from generation to generation and person to person, and learns that the effects of trauma need not last a lifetime."--