As the author says, this book is designed to make you “think about safety as you live your life”. And it certainly does that. It opens with some shocking figures regarding attacks against women in the United States in recent years. However, if you adopt the “safety frame of mind” presented in this book, you can do an awful lot to protect yourself. The first chapter suggests ways of staying safe at home, such as always checking before you open your door to someone and installing a burglar alarm. Next come safety tips for when you’re out and about, either at work or during your leisure time and dates. There’s a chapter about safe ways to travel and behave on holiday, and finally a selection of miscellaneous safety precautions.

Carla Thompson really seems to have thought of everything in this handy pocket book, which every women would benefit from reading, and not just the “busy” ones. Occasionally the advice may seem a little extreme, such as making sure your fingerprints are on file at your local police station in case you should ever go missing, but better safe than sorry. Not all the tips may be relevant to the reader’s situation, but the author has aimed her book at the widest possible audience. And everyone who reads it will pick up some valuable tips – “time tested tips” that the author has put into practice in her own life. This is what makes this book different from others in the safety line. It’s been written from the heart.