Robin Givens

“Grace Will Lead Me Home” (2007)

Robin Givens may be best known for her abusive marriage to the volatile boxer Mike Tyson and its cataclysmic ending. But in this vividly evoked, intelligent memoir she makes it clear there is much more to her life. She recounts the legacy of life-threatening domestic violence that has haunted her family for three generations and how she has managed to survive, and, ultimately, thrive. It was Oprah who convinced Robin to tell her story. As an honor student at Sarah Lawrence, she landed a job on the Cosby Show. She was a golden girl; success came instantly. And then she met Mike Tyson, the most powerful man on earth who made her feel safe. For a time. She vividly remembers Mike’s first punch, delivered coldly, dispassionately, and easily tossing her 105-pound frame across the room. As she details in the book he sliced her clothing to ribbons and nearly choked her to death -- yet she remained determined to love him enough to save them both. And at some point, she realized that if he didn’t kill her himself, he would drive her to do it (a taunt he made constantly). When she left, the campaign of destruction continued. She went from being selected as one of People’s Fifty Most Beautiful People to being vilified in the press. Robin tried to focus on her career, but motherhood provided the clarity she needed. It is through her children, and her stalwart mother and sister, that she has been able to come to terms with her choices, her faith, and ultimately herself. Grace Will Lead Me Home is her extraordinary, yet poignantly universal story. Robin Givens attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Sarah Lawrence College. A theater, film, and television actress, she was nominated for the Black Reel Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Hollywood Wives. She lives with her sons in Florida and California. This is her first book.