Schave is a clinical psychologist who lives and works in Los Angeles. Her orientation is psychodynamic, and she specializes in treating adults who have been sexually abused as children. Her book is a personal account of her own struggles to come to terms with her past as an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her older brother and her father. Her struggles involved two analyses, one successful and one not, a serious depression, difficulties with certain patients, and the disruption of her relationships with surviving family members. As an additional burden, Schave is one of twins and for long periods was estranged from her sister.

Her book is part of her recovery program as an abused child. Reading the book, I was reminded of Judith Herman's ideas about recovery from abuse. Herman considers that the final stage is linked to a renewed commonality with the social order, which may manifest itself as social activism. On first reading, there are signs of such activism throughout the text. As expected, Freud and Freudian psychoanalysts