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Fighting Back: A Battered Woman's Desperate Struggle to Survive
by Robert Davidson
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Ballantine Books (2000-05-02)
ISBN: 0449005429
EAN: 9780449005422
Dewy Decimal #: 362.8292092
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Release Date: 2000-05-02
SKU: MM2332
Condition: Good
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The shocking true story of a woman pushed to homicidal rage by the hands of her violent husband . . .
Long before there were abuse hot lines and shelters for battered women, June Briand fired four bullets into her husband's head and was sentenced to fifteen years to life. This is the shocking true story of survival--and the intense bond June shared with her pathologically violent husband, a monster who physically and sexually tortured, degraded, and dominated her so relentlessly that she refused to believe he was dead even after she killed him.
What kind of woman would slay her own husband? What kind of man would drive her to do it? Why didn't she just leave him? Based on extensive interviews with June Briand, FIGHTING BACK explores these difficult questions while exposing the twisted sadomasochistic dynamics of a relationship that enslaves a woman--and drives her to kill.
At once terrifying and maddening, heartrending and ultimately exhilarating-- including an unforgettable glimpse at life inside a maximum security prison--FIGHTING BACK is a book you will never forget.
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Customer Reviews
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Just because it says"true" not make it so.
Rating  (1)
Date: 2007-12-16
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
initial post: Dec 16, 2007 3:28 PM PST
A customer says:
It is funny that Jimmy's family is so horrible but yet the family, friends, police, hospital, ect. was NEVER interviewed for this book. You are the kind of people that like to read trash to make yourself feel better. If his family is soooo bad, why is his daughters still a huge part of thier lives and they want nothing to do with June. They are the ones who was there not you. How about the woman that was in the apartment the night of the cold blooded murder? She is petrified of June Briand! She also was NEVER interviewed for this book. It was Jimmy that came from a very loving family, not June. When this book was written and all the disgusting things were said about Jim and his family, it was like killing him all over again and getting away with it. None of you readers know Jim or his family or his daughters OR June briand for that matter. Shame on all of you. If you only knew how much family functions, cookouts, camping, christmas, ect. that june attended with the briand family and there was never any awful things happening at any of them. It is so sad that she can kill and literally get away with it. If it was the other way around, Jimmy would still be the bad guy. There are some real abused woman in this world but when this woman got away with what she did, it insulted them even more. The reason the author did not interview any of the family, friends, police, ect. is because he knows he would not of had the book he has now. She plea bargained because she knew if it was ajury trial like it was supposed to be she would of been found guilty immediately, no questions asked. There was never one shred of proof and there was always tons of people around for witnessses. She was abused as a child and it messed her head up like that does to a child but she took it out on the wrong man and the wrong family. It is so sad that anyone could put true story on there book or stories and that ok. What is even sadder is that people "want" to believe it because they are bored with thier own lives. She has stated in the book how she wasnt allowed to go anywhere, that jimmy wouldnt let her. Jimmy bought her palne tickets to go to Ca. to visit her sister with the girls with her. Jimmy toook her and her friend (the one in the apartment that night) camping almost every weekend in the summer. Jimmy surprised with tickets to Fleetwood mac (Junes fav. music). She went to this concert with her friends not Jimmy. Jimmys younger sisters babysat for June all the time while she went out with Jim to dinner, ect. They slept over there all the time. How come they cant remeber any abuse? Those are just a few of the things she forgot to mention. You actually believe "because she killed him he MUST of been a bad man"? How would you like it if it was your family? And all these awful things were said? Just because its in a book DOES NOT make it "true". What a sad world we live in.
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Horrifying
Rating  (5)
Date: 2006-03-22
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
To put it simply, this is a horrifying book. Not that it was written badly, but what this woman was put through her whole life. Violence against women is rarely justified. Unfortunately, we are the descendants of a society that used to actually expect men to beat their wives when necessary.
Addressing the lack of evidence supplied by the author, he specifically said in the preface that he changed all the names involved in the book to protect their privacy, and publishing even a small fraction of the hundreds of reports, examinations, etc. he would undeniably compromise everyone's identity.
I've also noticed people placing the blame on June herself, saying she only talked about herself, didn't consider her children, rarely mentioned them after her criminal act, etc. Keep in mind June didn't write this book. Robert Davidson wrote it. Robert wrote this book about June which took him more than 2 years of interviews to write it. June probably talked constantly about her kids during the interviews.
Anyway, overall, I would not recommend reading this book only because it is so depressing. It's an excellent book to read if you're in a Domestic Violence course, though.
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A good read
Rating  (4)
Date: 2004-06-16
4 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
From a previous review: "There is not much mention about the heart-ache she placed on her children by taking their fathers life. It makes me wonder what the publishing of this book has done to her children."It makes me wonder what seeing their mother beaten and raped DAILY did to her children. Would you say the same thing if Jimmy Briand had killed June, rather than the other way around? And: "...Why wouldn't June want her husbands family to take the children where they could find comfort and love, instead of throwing them into a disgruntal family and then on to foster homes." Probably because the Norton family was (is?) just as violent as Briand himself was. You didn't pay much attention to the book, did you? To the people who said they noticed inconsistancies in June's story: June was most likely suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. A common byproduct of this is not being able to remember all the details of the events triggering the disorder itself. If you'd been beaten that often, and had as many concussions and injuries as June did, I bet your memories would be a bit hazy, too.
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Thought-provoking
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-04-08
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a true story about a battered woman named June who eventually killed her abusive husband. It is a tragic story. Her husband was a monster who put her through so much before she finally pulled the trigger one night and killed him. The story is about a woman's struggle to survive and thrive in a chaotic, cruel world. Recommended, but beware it can be graphic!
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I've Been There
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-12-28
3 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
...This book gives the reader a glimpse into the hell so many women live in on a daily basis. ... Everyone should read this book and get an insight into what kind of terror is inflicted upon so many women on a daily basis. I'm sure it will be a real eyeopener to many.
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