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Summary:

Born in the Philippines, young Grace Talusan moves with her family to a New England suburb in the 1970s. At school, she confronts racism as one of the few kids with a brown face. At home, the confusion is worse: her grandfather's nightly visits to her room leave her hurt and terrified, and she learns to build a protective wall of silence that maps onto the larger silence practiced by her Catholic Filipino family. Talusan learns as a teenager that her family's legal status in the country has always hung by a thread--for a time, they were "illegal." Family, she's told, must be put first. The abuse and trauma Talusan suffers as a child affects all her relationships, her mental health, and her relationship with her own body. Later, she learns that her family history is threaded with violence and abuse. And she discovers another devastating family thread: cancer. In her thirties, Talusan must decide whether to undergo preventive surgeries to remove her breasts and ovaries. Despite all this, she finds love, and success as a teacher. On a fellowship, Talusan and her husband return to the Philippines, where she revisits her family's ancestral home and tries to reclaim a lost piece of herself. Not every family legacy is destructive. From her parents, Talusan has learned to tell stories in order to continue. The generosity of spirit and literary acuity of this debut memoir are a testament to her determination and resilience. In excavating and documenting such abuse and trauma, Talusan gives voice to unspeakable experience, and shines a light of hope into the darkness.

Author/Creator:

Talusan, Grace , author

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

The body papers: a memoir [by Talusan, G.]

Other Related Resources:

Print version: Body papers [by Talusan, G.] (First Restless Books hardcover edition; New York : Restless Books Inc., 2019 — ISBN 163206183X; LCCN 2018948395; OCLC Number 1043844633)

Subjects:

Talusan, Grace

Sexual abuse victims — Great Britain — Biography

Cancer — Patients — Great Britain — Biography

Filipinos — Great Britain — Biography

Immigrants — Great Britain — Biography

Sexual abuse victims

Cancer — Patients

Cancer

Filipinos

Immigrants

Philippines

Great Britain

Genres:

Autobiographies

Biographies

General Notes:

Description based on: Print version record.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 255 pages) : illustrations

Digital Characteristics:

text file

Call Numbers:

RC560.S44 T35 2019eb

ISBNs:

163206183X [Invalid]
9781632061836 [Invalid]
9781632061843 (electronic bk.)
1632061848 (electronic bk.)
9781632060242 [Invalid]

OCLC Numbers:

1103335358