Breaking Good is a raw and courageous story of a young woman’s experience of domestic abuse at the hands of the man she loves. Lisa falls hard for Tommy, but they have a relationship that slowly but surely puts her life on the back foot, robbing her of her self-esteem and threatening her physical wellbeing and eventually that of her son’s wellbeing also.
At first, Tommy is the man she yearns for – he loves his mother, is the life of parties, he seems suave and sophisticated. But as time goes on, his ugly side becomes more dominant. This is a man who binge drinks, takes and deals drugs, cheats on her, and who has trouble controlling his emotions, with punch holes along the hallway of their Christchurch home confronting evidence of his intimidation.
Lisa takes the reader into the world she endured for years until the birth of her son gave her the courage to break away from the cycle of domestic abuse and start afresh.
She has gone on to set up Social Currency – an accounting firm donating 10% of revenue to supporting at-risk youth – creating a positive change from her heart-wrenching experiences.
While this is understandably a visceral account of Lisa’s earlier life, it’s also very inspiring. It will help countless other women trapped in the same cycle of violence and hopefully give them the strength to make a change and start over away from it their abuser. A brave and important book.
Reviewer: Karen McMillan