"Donna Marie Hayes had fortitude and smarts. She'd already survived so much. In this gripping memoir, Hayes recounts the story of her impoverished Jamaican childhood and eventual immigration to the United States at 14. She weathers hardships, including a strict church upbringing, family abandonment, and marriages fused with domestic violence. Then she breaks free as a single mother."--Page [4] of cover.

"Riveting, honest, and raw, I Can Take It From Here recounts Lisa Forbes's harrowing journey into darkness -- including a fourteen-year-long stint in a maximum-security prison -- and her fierce resolve to understand the effects of the trauma she endured, to take personal responsibility for her actions, and to ensure that her history does not dictate her destiny. The youngest of six children, Lisa grew up in a Chicago housing project where she endured...