In many ways this is a book about silence or, more accurately, about two kinds of silence. One kind of silence is the silence trauma inflicts on us humans and renders so much beyond words and so much is left unspeakable. The other silence is the silence used by a skilled therapist: knowing when to pause, to hold back, not rush in. It is this silence that allows the unspeakable to be spoken and healing to unfold.
The book is a tender and brave tribute to both these kinds of silence, exquisitely unpacked in the hands of consummate storytellers.
Each of the eight chapters that make up Unspeakable tells…