In Spite of Everything invites us into the lives of twenty-two ordinary, but also extraordinary women. Part Ellen DeGeneres, part Studs Terkel, Leila Peters allows the women to tell their own storiesabout their lives, their challenges, their relationships. The women trust herand usenough to share their difficulties and failures as well as their joys and successes and we are richer for their honesty. Although these women share being in long-term lesbian relationships, their lives are incredibly varied. We have much to learn from them about loving and living well. Dr. Nancy Marie Robertson, Director of Womens Studies Indiana University/ Purdue University. Indianapolis Leila Peters has chronicled the inspiring and captivating stories of lesbian couples from all walks of life who maintained long lasting and flourishing relationships in the face of a disapproving and sometimes hostile family and community. This book is important not only as an historical record of determined women who prevailed against the odds, but as powerful evidence of the urgent need to legitimize same-sex relationships through the legal recognition of gay marriage. Barbara Baird, Esquire, With Chuck Loring, Barbara organized the first Lambda Legal Indiana Benefit Dinner, a premiere fund raising event which benefits the legal needs of the LGBT community. Stories, storiesI just love to read stories! Warm, thought-provoking, hilarious, gut-wrenching, sexy, wonderful stories. Leila spins the tales of these womens lives sensitively, honestly, and with just the right amount of background. Mary Byrne, Executive Director of Indiana Youth Group In Spite of Everything balances painful stories of sickness, poverty, prejudice and repression with tales of romance, joy and passion. This book is a walk down the not-always-happy memory lanes of lesbian relationships in the latter half of the 20th century into the twenty-first century, rich with detail, and narrated in a matter-of-fact way that sugarcoats nothing but leaves the reader feeling that with love, anything is possible. Id love to see a five years later sequel, bringing us up to date on these fascinating women. Becky Thacker, Amazon Girls Handbook, Wicker Park Press, 2002 Faithful Unto Death, University of Michigan Press, Fall 2010 I was much impressed by the diversity of Relationships described in Leila Peters book. The themes of Honesty, Struggle, and Success are compelling. Its power lies in the telling of real life stories of Women fighting for love. Joseffa Crowe Storyteller, author of Growing Up Under the Swastika.