Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir
Jeannie VanascoA New York Times Editors’ Choice & Best Book of the Year at TIME, Esquire, Amazon, Kirkus, & Electric Literature
Jeannie Vanasco has had the same nightmare since she was a teenager. It is always about him: one of her closest high school friends, a boy named Mark. A boy who raped her. When her nightmares worsen, Jeannie decides—after fourteen years of silence—to reach out to Mark. He agrees to talk on the record & meet in person.
Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before & after the assault, asking the brave & urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own.
Unflinching & courageous, Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl is part memoir, part true crime record, & part testament to the strength of female friendships—a recounting & reckoning that will inspire us to ask harder questions, push towards deeper understanding, & continue a necessary & long overdue conversation.
Jeannie Vanasco is the author of The Glass Eye: A Memoir (Tin House Books, 2017). Her work has appeared in The Believer, the New York Times Modern Love, Tin House, & elsewhere. She lives in Baltimore & is an assistant professor at Towson University. Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl is her second book.