Lisa Jo Symonds takes the readers The Hands That Held Me: One Survivor’s True Story Abuse, Child Trafficking, Addiction, and Overdose along a 51 years roller-coaster ride of troubled youth, abusive and addictive behaviors already present in the lives of her parents and grandfather. Finding herself pregnant at age 14, ending up still a teenager given birth to three children in total. Sex, drugs, and alcohol, abusive friends, and lovers are no healthy basis for a safe place to grow up and raise children.
The narrative is so personal, touching and raw, that you can’t put the book down easily. Yes, God’s grace saved her life, but it took many, many turns to get to the point of really giving in. Stockholm Syndrome and the dangerous addictive patterns in action mark The Hands That Held Me. Symonds survived, not by clever choices or exemplary habits. Miracles just like tragic accidents do happen. The author wants to raise awareness of the consequences of abuse, child trafficking, addiction, and overdose. A deadly serious message not to be neglected.
About the author
Despite it all, Lisa Jo Symonds earned a dual Bachelor and Master’s degree in health sciences – Public Health. She uses her life experiences and her education to improve the health and lives of others on a global scale. Lisa Jo is the American Ambassador of Hope For Rural Orphans, an orphanage in Mbale, Uganda. She also focuses much of her attention to actively raising awareness and pushing for public health policy changes regarding addiction and treatment. Her goal is to help bring an end to policies that have cost hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths since the war on drugs and the opioid overdose epidemic began. She is a voice and an advocate for all other survivors of abuse, domestic violence, and human trafficking and makes herself available to all who reach out to her on social media 24/7.
I received a free review copy from the author in exchange for my personal, unbiased opinion upon reading.
