New Essay in LARB: “Beheaded”

The Los Angeles Review of Books published my personal essay “Beheaded” this morning.

This piece started formulating in my head when my daughter and I were in Europe–everywhere we turned, it seemed, there were monuments to women who had been beheaded. It made me reflect on domestic violence and my own experiences.

The best thing that has already come out of this publication is that an organization that supports survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence asked if they could share the essay with volunteers. This means a great deal to me. It is the hope of every writer who puts their own personal history and emotional trauma out into the world that, by doing so, it will help someone. My greatest wish is that someone will read this essay, know he or she is not alone, and seek help.

Huge thanks to LARB non-fiction editor Gina Frangello for picking up the essay and giving it such a good home.