On a plane ride back from Russia in 1988, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson leaned over to Robin Givens, his wife of less than a year, and informed her quite calmly, “I’m going to kill you and get away with it.” She was pregnant with their first child.

Not long before, Givens had spoken with Barbara Walters and for the first time admitted, publicly and perhaps to herself as well, that yes, Tyson did hit her and yes, she was scared. Now, nearly two decades later, Givens has published a memoir entitled Grace Will Lead Me Home, in which she writes about her relationship with Tyson, the now-famous interview and the decision to get out while she could.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Givens discusses the cycles of domestic violence that have plagued her family for generations, which she believes predisposed her to the situation with Tyson. She also states that, were it not for the love and support she found with her family, she never would have had the strength to do what she did. Grace, she tells the GMA talking head, was her grandmother’s name.

Watch the interview and read a sample chapter.