Solace: A Memoir in Verse by Colleen Mills

One effect of severe traumatic violence is that it cuts its victims off from connecting, even with those present in the experience. Perhaps of even greater effect, victims disconnect from themselves-from a conscious monitoring of emotion, reaction, and reality. Solace documents the testimony and memories of seven siblings who grew up as the well-behaved silent children of a well-respected religious family, and looks into the private space of their life long memories as they begin to recreate and redefine the concept of relationships and survival. Colleen Mills' masterful vignetted snap shots of shame will lead you through a maze of tenderness and pain that is difficult to shake.