Hedda Nussbaum, battered and bruised after years of domestic torture by her domestic partner, Joel Steinberg, was abruptly thrown into the public spotlight in November 1987 after Steinberg assaulted and killed their daughter, Lisa. This book tells the painful story of Hedda's 12 years with Steinberg, and how she went from quiet book editor to notorious battered woman, blamed for her daughter's death because she didn't "get out" soon enough. But, as the title suggests, Hedda not only survived the double abuse but grew strong in the process and went on to become an advocate for other battered women-writing and speaking, and teaching women how to stay out of and/or to survive intimate terrorism.