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2 Stars • The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin is a candid story about a successful venture capitalist and mom in NYC whose seemingly perfect life—career, family, and all—gets shaken when she remembers sexual abuse that she experienced as a 13-year-old by a teacher. It‘s an Oprah‘s Book Club pick which I rarely enjoy or find helpful. Why do many of Oprah‘s picks revolve around rape? I will not be recommending this one.

#TheTellAMemoir #AmyGriffin

I was gripped by this memoir about the author‘s recovered memories of sexual abuse by a teacher at her middle school, and how she dealt with it after recovering the memory in adulthood. She‘s a few years younger than I am, and we grew up in different parts of the state, but Texas in the 80s was Texas in the 80s. Everything she described was creepily recognizable to me. This is a quick read, and impressively well written.

I went into this knowing nothing..just that it‘s a memoir and Oprah liked it. I think that‘s partially why I was so taken with this: it was a total shock to me as I was experiencing everything right alongside the author. Told in two parts: one was interesting but pretty typical of a standard memoir. By part two I could not stop reading until the book ended. A truly standout memoir, in my estimation. Check TW! And nicely done audio by the author.

I am the person who‘s never experienced an illegal drug for fear I will be the one who becomes immediately and forever addicted. So Amy‘s manner of unlocking the traumas of her past is a no-go for me personally. But my own issues faded for Amy as she convinced of the freedom in knowing her truth .