In this carefully researched biography the author explores the life and work of the woman Helen Keller called "Teacher" throughout their long life together. While Annie Sullivan is usually portrayed as Keller's rescuer and mainstay, Nielsen shows that in many ways Keller was the stronger and more stable of the two. Keller helped Sullivan rise from a life of poverty and obscurity to one of worldwide fame. Toward the end of her life Sullivan depended on Keller as a caregiver. Sullivan's traumatic childhood years in the Tewksbury Almshouse cast a lifelong shadow.
