No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder

The women’s stories are so common, they rarely even hit the front page. Man kills family, self. Man kills ex-girlfriend or ex-wife. He kills her in her driveway, in her bedroom, in her office, with a gun, a knife, by strangling. The stories are both too universal and too particular. And who can bear to read yet again that a restraining order didn’t protect her, that the cops couldn’t get there in time, that she did everything right — and still died?
Just this week a woman who shot and killed her abusive ex-partner was convicted of murder.  She had been held captive for 24-hours, raped, had a restraining order, and yet, when she shot him as he attacked her brother who had come to her house, she is a murderer.  The story was the center of a lengthy New Yorker article, and is yet another example of how poorly we protect women and children from violence.
The stories in the book are both lengthy and devastating, but Snyder keeps us reading by pointing us toward possible solutions. She delves into how researchers and front-line interveners are creating practical, cost-effective, evidence-based ways to save lives.
I thought I knew a lot about this, but it turns out I had a lot to learn, and I highly recommend this book as an education and an eye opener.