What A Body Remembers: A Memoir of Sexual Assault and Its Aftermath
by Karen Stefano
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Description
"On a summer night in 1984, nineteen-year-old UC Berkeley sophomore Karen Thomas leaves her uniformed patrol job and walks home alone in darkness. At the threshold of her apartment a man assaults her at knife point. After a soul-chilling struggle, she manages to escape. Though she is left traumatized by her assault and the subsequent trial of her attacker, she herself goes on to become a criminal defense lawyer, defending those accused of crimes as heinous as the one committed against her. show more Fast forward to 2014, thirty years after her assault, when her life, once again, appears to be crumbling. As she stumbles her way through the days navigating a dying marriage, devastating financial loss, and an elderly mother slipping into dementia, she becomes fascinated by her own anxiety and PTSD. Why does the body remember what the mind tries so desperately to forget? Her questions prompt a delayed obsession with her assailant: What became of him? What is he doing now? She begins a quest of excavation, determined to track him down. What she discovers is life altering. What A Body Remembers is an honest, from-the-gut account of one woman's journey to regain her power and confidence--a journey that continues to this day."--Amazon.com show lessTags
Member Reviews
Karen Stefano is a lawyer and author. Her new memoir, What a Body Remembers: A Memoir of Sexual Assault and Its Aftermath, examines the lasting effects of trauma. Stefano was assaulted in college, went on to become a criminal defense attorney, and 30 years later was hit with anxiety and PTSD that she examines in her book.
Her story is as compelling as the most exciting criminal thriller. She also addresses the seeming paradox of going from a crime victim to defending accused criminals, which makes her story particularly interesting. Most important, Stefano shows how there are many ways to heal from trauma, that the path is not always straightforward, but usually more of a two steps forward, four steps back process.
What a Body Remembers show more is a powerful book and a great read for sexual assault survivors and their supporters, or anyone interested in “true crime” and our criminal justice system. show less
Her story is as compelling as the most exciting criminal thriller. She also addresses the seeming paradox of going from a crime victim to defending accused criminals, which makes her story particularly interesting. Most important, Stefano shows how there are many ways to heal from trauma, that the path is not always straightforward, but usually more of a two steps forward, four steps back process.
What a Body Remembers show more is a powerful book and a great read for sexual assault survivors and their supporters, or anyone interested in “true crime” and our criminal justice system. show less
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Youth: Sexuality & Gender
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Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Sexuality and Gender Studies
- DDC/MDS
- 364.1 — Society, government, & culture Social problems and social services Crime Criminal offenses
- LCC
- HV6561 .S73 — Social sciences Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology Crimes and offenses
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 9
- Popularity
- 2,309,112
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (5.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
