A self-help book for African American women, co-written by a Black family therapist and an award-winning journalist, that provides a new way of thinking about intimate relationships by acknowledging the emotional legacy of slavery. A remarkably original relationship book for African-American women that speaks to the emotional implications of slavery and the difficult heritage of these women. The idea that families pass down ways of seeing and interpreting the world from generation to generation is not news but what is riveting here is the notion that the historical experience of African-American women has clear implications for their ability to attract and maintain relationships in the present. As the authors explain, the relationship patterns that were learned during slavery have resulted in "anti-intimacy" beliefs that prevent closeness. The book is written in a wonderfully accessible style filled with excellent case studies and a program that emphasizes the positive as well as the negative. The authors not only have identified seven anti-intimacy patterns but they offer seven life-enhancing beliefs consistent in the lives of African-Americans that can help readers heal. Audience response to the hardcover has been tremendous, and author mail echoes the response: many people have waited a long, long time for the realization that this book provides, and many now feel empowered enough to break the cycles in their own families.
