Glimmer

A Story of Survival, Hope, and Healing

By: Kimberly Shannon Murphy

Narrated by: Kaitlin Olson

Winner of the 2024 Andy Award for Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction

A Zibby's Top 10 Book of 2023

A USA Today Best Book of 2023

A USA Today Book Club Pick

Foreword by Cameron Diaz

“Reading Kimberly Shannon Murphy’s searing and vividly told memoir is like watching a gripping work of cinema verité: each scene demands our attention as the plot moves towards its dramatic conclusion. A powerful and inspiring story of suffering and shame, resilience and redemption.”—Gabor Maté M.D., New York Times bestselling author of The Myth of Normal

A raw and heartening memoir of one woman’s journey from surviving childhood sexual abuse to becoming one of the most successful stuntwomen in Hollywood.

“Piece by piece, the on-site medic tweezes the shards of candy glass from my face. I don’t mind the stinging. I don’t flinch.”

As an award-winning stuntwoman, Kimberly Shannon Murphy was intimate with pain. For years, she propelled her body through dangerous spaces—medicating the trauma of her childhood sexual abuse with the adrenaline rush that came from pushing herself to the absolute limit. But as Kimberly learned, no matter how much you suppress your past, it always catches up with you.

In Glimmer, Kimberly details her remarkable journey to the top of her field as a Hollywood stuntwoman for many A-list celebrities, including Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie, Taylor Swift, and Sandra Bullock, while carrying the pain of her childhood of sexual abuse in a family that refused to acknowledge its reality. In her beautifully written, unflinchingly honest memoir, Kimberly reflects on her past and present, chronicling her path to recovery and calculating the long shadow of trauma.

Glimmer is the story of one woman’s quest to reclaim her life and to shine a spotlight on the dark topic of intergenerational familial abuse. As Kimberly reveals, being strong isn’t about getting your black belt, leaping out of four-story buildings, or putting 200-pound stuntmen in chokeholds—it’s about waking up every single morning and choosing to love yourself, no matter your history.

A heroic and hopeful story of stolen innocence, pain, courage, and survival, Glimmer is an emotional roadmap for others who have suffered abuse and childhood trauma, offering them hope, healing, and inspiration.

©2023 Kimberly Murphy (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Outstanding!

Beautifully written and narrated. Kimberly brilliantly explains the nuances of what it's like living as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. Thank you for sharing your experiences so that others may know they are not alone and may gain strength from your story.

So well written!

Thank you for writing this and being so vulnerable about your journey. I am so sorry your extended family did not choose healing but so proud for you that you did! Wonderful book that I plan to recommend to others. Thank you!

Unbelievably well done!

I was hesitant to listen because of the triggering subject matter but Kimberly tells her story with grace and tact. It is beautifully written and read. What an amazing and raw journey that can only be told by a true survivor! I don’t think she will ever fully realize how many people will gain a measure of healing from reading her book.

Sheer Bravery

It's mind blowing what Kimberly went through. No family is without a history of abuse and denial. I can relate to the stigma of her abuse and the continued evidence of it by the STD she contracted.
She is fearless in exposing herself to the bone. What a role model she is, entering my life now, through her story. I love her for that.

Proof that “Family” can Love & be destructive with possible growth & healing.

I have great empathy for Kimberly & appreciate her bravery to share-there was a ton of hope and helpful tools for me. Highly recommend, If you think you are alone with childhood trauma Thank you Kimberly:)

The ending w/ Little Kim

I cheered & cried for Little Kim! I am accepting my own truths because of this book.

valuable insight

I hope all my stunt friends are okay. This was valuable to see how trauma manifests in her life and how interracting with your inner child is valuable.

Excellent, compelling

This wonderful book will stay with me for a long time. I learned so much about myself and my own trauma. I was afraid that the book would be too “dark” but the saddest parts of the story were presented with sensitivity. The best part of the story was the final pages of the book. We can all heal if we do the work, speak our truth. We can connect with our own sweet child and save both of us. Heartily recommend.

I've never told anyone! Not really.

Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your truth. Thank you for being a messenger. Perhaps one of the reasons you went through the terror, pain, shame and utter betrayal was to help others do the same hard work you continue to do! I feel blessed to have read this book and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

captivating

this book had me hooked from the beginning. I finished it in 1 setting.