Review by Choice Review
The authors interviewed 62 rural and urban Kentucky women with current or recent experience of being stalked by a current or former intimate partner, and with a history of physical violence in their relationship with the stalking perpetrator. They make several useful conceptual distinctions, for example, between celebrity stalking and partner stalking; between psychological abuse and stalking; and between stalking and "normal" courtship and relationship behaviors (a particularly troubling issue). At the book's core are the authors' presentations and interpretations of women's accounts of their experiences, perceptions, definitions, attributions, and coping strategies related to stalking, including the impact of stalking and women's experiences with the justice system. Most chapters begin with extended materials about a woman whose experiences illustrate the main topic. The authors carefully contextualize interview excerpts so that readers--who may well include women looking for help coping with stalking, as well as interested students, professionals, and researchers--can learn from the frequently harrowing personal stories these women share. The authors carefully note the patterns and diversity of their interviewees' experiences and set out implications for policy, practice, and research. Likely to become an authoritative sourcebook. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. L. D. Brush University of Pittsburgh
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
