THE BODY PAPERS

Winner of The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Grace Talusan's memoir The Body Papers powerfully explores her experiences with sexual abuse, depression, cancer, and life as a Filipino immigrant, enhanced with government documents, medical records, and family photos.

From the time she was a child in a Filipino family that had uprooted to New England, young Grace Talusan had grappled with her dual identity as an immigrant. The confusion of finding a way to feel at home deepens when
her grandfather moves in and begins to pay her nightly visits.

Hurt and terrified, she learns to build a protective wall of silence that maps onto the larger silence practiced by her Catholic Filipino family. The 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.

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.