SHADOWS OF MEN. The Real Women of New York do not always strut around the city in Manolos by day and sip Cosmos by night. They have real lives, fall in love with the wrong men, suffer abuse and debilitating diseases all the while raising children and holding down difficult jobs. This book is a tribute to many of those women who struggle every day to escape from the shadows of the men in their lives. It is a testimony to power of the female spirit that gives us the ability to live, laugh and love together.