This book is about the inner lives of people who overcome terrible circumstances -- both the survival skills that allow them to thrive, and the feelings of fear, isolation, and guilt that may haunt them afterwards.

The standout aspect of this book to me was that the author didn't focus on one specific type of adversity, which seems to be the more common approach. Instead, she took all kinds of circumstances that can disadvantage someone's childhood and looked at what they all have in common.

It's a good balance of case study story and analysis, and I found it very interesting. A little depressing, since personally I haven't faced any adversity to speak of and still haven't succeeded, but definitely worth reading.