Name: Hiding from Reality
ISBN: 9781451677713

Taylor Armstrong

The breakout star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills charts her rise from an abuse-marked childhood through her tumultuous marriage to wife-beater and suicide-victim Russell, in a personal story that counsels survivors about how to overcome insecurity and escape abusive situations.

My Story of Love, Loss, and Finding the Courage Within

Hiding from Reality

Whitney Leno

I very much enjoyed this book. I had watched the Housewives while Taylor Armstrong was on so I was familiar with what she had gone through. I also have a background supporting survivors of violence so I appreciate the willingness to use her platform and fame to spread awareness. 
This is not the writing of an accomplished author, it's the writing of a woman sharing her journey and that needs to be appreciated. 
You would not need to watch the show to read this book. Armstrongs time on the show is mentioned a minuscule amount in the book. I also loved how she listed resources for victims and survivors in the book. 
This is also a quick read and could be done in a weekend. I recommend.

An estimated 80 percent of domestic abuse victims remain silent, suffocated by fear and relentless self-doubt. For Taylor, it was the threat of financial ruin and finding herself alone with her young daughter that kept her tethered to her volatile husband. But after a ferocious roundhouse punch from Russell fractured her face, resulting in reconstructive surgery, she finally made the brave decision to walk away from a man she loved and a legacy of physical abuse that she first encountered as a child and that haunted her throughout her adulthood.

Kourtney

If you take this book for face value, it is a well-told story. If you have heard the tabloid stories though, it is hard to look past to see the story for what it is. This book tells a sorid tale of domestic abuse, insecurity and finding your way. But to hear the stories that it was somewhat fabricated to help Taylor escape her financial difficulties after Russel's suicide casts quite a few doubts on some of the hindsight stories that occur. I have no doubt that domestic abuse occurred, but after seeing the show I question just how much in fear she lived. I just don't know, and probably never will. Taking the book for what it is without the tabloids and TV shows ringing in my ears, it is worth the read.

Hiding from Reality My Story of Love, Loss, and Finding the Courage Within

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