Grace Talusan's memoir The Body Papers bravely explores her experiences with sexual abuse, depression, cancer, and life as a Filipino immigrant. The abuse and 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. On a fellowship, Talusan and her husband return to the Philippines, where she revisits her family's ancestral home and tries to reclaim a lost piece of herself.
- ISBN10 163206183X
- ISBN13 9781632061836
- Publish Date 23 May 2019 (first published 9 April 2019)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 18 May 2021
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Regan Arts
- Imprint Restless Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English