What Doesn’t Kill Her
Women’s Stories of Reslience
Edited by Kerry Garvin & Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, PhD
“When someone is ill, many old cultures say that they have lost their story. I believe that reading the stories in What Doesn’t Kill Her will help each of us to trust and tell our own.” – Gloria Steinem
“I am inspired. This treasury of stories by women of courage is an important and necessary book. What Doesn’t Kill Her will make all of us stronger.” – Barbara Morgan, NASA Astronaut (ret.)
“What Doesn’t Kill Her is a unique window into many brave women’s lives. Their life stories are here to tell us we are not alone.” – Adria Petty, Film Director
“Now more than ever we need to listen and learn from the voices of women. What Doesn’t Kill Her wholeheartedly embraces the stories of sixty different women in very different situations and showcases their resilience, their strength, their creativity, and generosity of spirit. You cannot fail to be moved by their voices, and you cannot fail to be inspired to end the injustices that these stories so eloquently recount.” – Cherie Blair QBE QC, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
“In ancient times the Sacred Feminine was revered. The woman was seen as ‘The Giver of Life.’ Throughout history, the voices, stories, and the beautiful energy of the Feminine have been suppressed, oppressed, and forced into hiding. But the truth refuses to remain hidden. In this profound book, a compilation of sixty powerful individuals exude the courage and bravery required to push through the invisible chains of millennia of suppression to speak out. Each one adds her triumphant voice to the chorus representing the Feminine in all its Divinity and our need to restore it to its rightful place of reverence.” – AnnaLynne McCord, Actor and Activist
About What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience:
In late 2018, in the wake of the Me Too Movement and midterm elections deemed the Women’s Wave, two Harvard-educated woman writers, Kerry Garvin and Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, dreamt of a collection of essays–a collective memoir–dedicated to the strength and resilience of women from all walks of life. It would be a book that could be plucked from shelves during times of adversity, lent to a mother, sister, daughter, or friend. They sent out a call for true stories. Sixty brave women rose to the call and the book was born. What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience is a collection of sixty triumphant survival stories written by a diverse array of women.
Sometimes triumph is a soaring achievement in the face of adversity. Other times, it’s getting out of bed and putting one foot in front of the other. Phoenixes arise from ashes of all sorts–even bed sheets.
These stories feature culturally relevant topics such as advocating for healthcare, surviving sexual assault, reconciling female genital mutilation, working in the sex industry, overcoming breast cancer, motherhood after miscarriage, losing a husband in Afghanistan, and transitioning from male to female.