Using the murder of Andrea O'Donnell, who was killed by her boyfriend, and her own experiences as a launch pad, the author examines the dichotomy between love and power. The text looks at the ""unreasonable choices"" women feel they have to make between care for themselves and care for another.
Andrea O'Donnell did not fit what criminal justice experts call the "victim profile." The twenty-seven-year old women's studies major at San Diego State University was the director of the campus Women's Resource Center and a self-defense instructor. Nevertheless, in the early morning hours of November 5, 1994, she was brutally murdered. Her decomposed body was discovered in the apartment that she shared with her boyfriend, Andres English-Howard. In August 1995, he was convicted of first-degree murder. The night before he was scheduled to appear in court for sentencing, English-Howard hanged himself in his jail cell.
