"The past is never dead. It's not even past."--William Faulkner
How much of our present behavior is just an aftershock
of a traumatic earthquake which occurred in childhood?
Betsy Petersen's memoir of recovery from incest provides
an admirably detailed and poignant portrait:
I did not know what I was doing. I only knew I was angry
with [my children] and they didn't deserve it. Until I
had gotten back the missing parts of my past, I couldn't make
the connections between my anger at my children in the
present and the numb compliance of my childhood.
(page 93)
Through a memoir which reads like a novel, Petersen recounts
her struggles to reclaim the memories of what was done to her
--and how her childhood trauma later impacted her attitudes
and feelings about sexuality (49-51), motherhood (81-96),
money (109-119), menstruation (115), people-pleasing (117)
and food (120-124).
An insightful book--for survivors and their loved ones.
How much of our present behavior is just an aftershock
of a traumatic earthquake which occurred in childhood?
Betsy Petersen's memoir of recovery from incest provides
an admirably detailed and poignant portrait:
I did not know what I was doing. I only knew I was angry
with [my children] and they didn't deserve it. Until I
had gotten back the missing parts of my past, I couldn't make
the connections between my anger at my children in the
present and the numb compliance of my childhood.
(page 93)
Through a memoir which reads like a novel, Petersen recounts
her struggles to reclaim the memories of what was done to her
--and how her childhood trauma later impacted her attitudes
and feelings about sexuality (49-51), motherhood (81-96),
money (109-119), menstruation (115), people-pleasing (117)
and food (120-124).
An insightful book--for survivors and their loved ones.
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