He Beat Past My Skin
About
Republished as The Women's Meeting
When Dr. Angela Morrison agrees to facilitate a women's meeting at her church, she becomes engrossed in the traumatic stories of four women. As she listens to the horrific tales, Angela is propelled back into the terror of her own harrowing past and forced to confront her demons.
Anita Harrison, the pastor's wife, lives in a theatrical production where she is a character in a tragedy and her husband is the director. Unlike the theater, the action is real; the beatings are real, and her fear is real. From a young age, Ernestine Johnson learned to survive. Over time, she uses her body to get everything she wants-except love. Toni Brown, motivated by hate and vengeance, vows to punish the man who stole her life and raped her soul while he kept her locked in a basement. Candace Carter is trapped in a world dominated by pornography and prostitution. Abandoned, molested, and abused since age five, she is easily manipulated by the one man who is all too eager to exploit her death.
In this unforgettable and poignant tale, five women must face the horrors of their truths, but all of them may not survive their realities.
Praise for this book
"He Beat Past My Skin" by Jessica Green should be required reading for all young girls and women. Dr. Angela Morrison is asked to facilitate a women's meeting at a local church dealing with various forms of abuse and other demons. While Dr. Morrison is busy trying to help these other ladies, she realizes she also has some unresolved issues.
"He Beat Past My Skin" tells the stories of Candace, Anita, Toni, and Ernestine. They are dealing with issues such as: sexuality, rape, prostitution, living with AIDS, and all (physical, mental, emotional) forms of abuse. Even though all of their issues are different, they must learn how to love themselves enough to leave their situations.
Jessica Green has written the stories of five women in complete detail. Green did such an outstanding job with character development that it felt as if I was in the story, sitting at their church meetings and in their homes with them. This is a heavy book with very serious matter and I applaud Jessica Green for taking the time to bring these horrific stories to the forefront. I highly recommend "He Beat Past My Skin: Redemption of a Broken Spirit" to all women - just make sure you have some Kleenex available.