One of Debbie Matzkin’s earliest memories is her mother’s attempt to murder her while she slept.

Ever since she was a little girl, Debbie Matzkin lived a double life. In one, she lived the perfect life as the pampered only child of a European-born aristocratic family, never wanting for anything. But in the other, she was living in the deep, dark shadow of her mother. Her violent, abusive, torturing mother.

Deep inside their 14,000-square-foot mansion, surrounded by housekeepers and the finest things in life, Debbie was abused, choked, and beaten within an inch of her life – all while keeping up appearances for the outside world. Only the years and her mother’s passing helped her put things in perspective, opening up a unique path of healing.

Surviving My Mother is the harrowing, candid, beautiful story of a woman’s quest to survive, a mother’s quest to heal, and a daughter’s quest to forgive. Debbie Matzkin shares the lifesaving lessons she learned, how she was able to find happiness in even the darkest of depths, and how she ultimately reclaimed her future.