Nancy Brown's astonishing debut is a testament to the power of human resilience. With startling elegance and rare honesty, Brown recounts the abuse she suffered as a young girl at the hands of a sexual predator, the scarring and the pain she endured, and the deadly refuge she found in prescription drugs and alcohol. The road to her recovery is long and serpentine, riddled with detours, traps, and diversions; but it is a road Brown learns to savor, to see for what it is. Looking back, she discovers a pattern of abuse, guilt, self-loathing, addiction, and co-dependence, as well as the devastating effects this pattern has on her loved ones. Facing Life is at once a painful, searing journey of remembrance and an eyes-wide-open embrace of life and its vicissitudes. It is the story of a woman who refuses to surrender, who transforms her suffering into a life-affirming revolt against despair.