What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo (2022): A Review

Title: What My Bones Know

Author: Stephanie Foo

Publication Year: 2022

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pages: 352

Source: audiobook @storytel.tr

Genre: memoir, complex-PTSD

Opening Sentence: “Do you want to know your diagnosis?”

The first sentence of this memoir immediately signals the beginning of a difficult journey toward healing. Naming an illness—whether physical or mental—is an essential first step. You cannot confront or address something you cannot identify. Before diagnosis, there is only confusion and uncertainty; after it, there is at least the possibility of direction, however uncertain or imperfect that path may be.

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo is a memoir chronicling her life-long journey through relentless abuse and trauma, culminating in a diagnosis of Complex PTSD and her determined effort to heal. Foo’s account is brutally honest and deeply affecting, pulling no punches about the pain and setbacks she endures. This book is not an easy read; it may trigger anxiety or trauma for some, but it stands out as a raw, unflinching record of her experiences and her search for understanding.

My own research focuses on trauma in literature, and while I have read many theoretical works and novels on the subject, memoirs like Foo’s offer a unique perspective. This book challenged my understanding of how trauma—and especially complex, intergenerational trauma—operates in real lives. Foo’s exploration of the genetic impact of trauma and its transmission across generations is particularly unsettling, raising tough questions about whether the cycle can ever truly be broken. The memoir reminds us that healing is not the same for everyone, and that not all who seek help find love or support. Foo’s hard-earned resolution is moving, but it also underscores how rare such outcomes can be. I am super happy for her healing path and success & admire what she has done. Wish her the best in her life and career, and I wonder if I can borrow her husband’s family.

But what about those whose stories do not end in recovery or hope? What happens to the narratives of people who try their best but never find resolution, who remain in the shadows rather than stepping into the light? Do they have the opportunity or the voice to share their stories, or do we as a society only listen to tales of healing, survival, and success? What does it mean for those who do not reach the end of the healing path?

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