Few people escape from a childhood of criminal abuse and slavery and live a normal life to tell their story. In Daughter of the Razor, Mary tells how she survived her criminal family and emerged as Maria without ending up in jail or turning to prostitution, drugs, or alcohol.

This second book, Daughter of the Razor, Part 2 – The Rescue tells how new friends helped her escape although the twisted, evil world of her criminal family, and their notorious associates, kept appearing in this new life. At nearly ninety, Maria looks back on her rescue, warts, and all, and tells how the human spirit triumphed over evil and her life’s misery.

I never met Mary; I met Maria in 1991 and have been friends with her and her sons since then. I was not part of her rescue; Maria had been rescued before I met her. I give great credit to the people described in this book who were foundational to Maria’s rescue. I have been a proud witness to Maria’s triumph over evil, and to the work that she has done – and continues to do – to use her own words, “attending to people – doing what I can to give them love and kindness.”

Being Maria’s friend has been easy; she’s the kind of friend who lights up every time we meet. She makes me feel proud the way she outwardly shows the value of our friendship. Maria is an intelligent and gifted woman – not to mention sweet, kind-hearted and happy … she has a heart of gold. I am greatly comforted by the fact that the heinous people referred to in “Daughter of the Razor,” parts 1 and 2, and their actions toward Mary, did not prevent the emergence of the Maria I have known, and who has been my friend for thirty years.