After Silence

Rape & My Journey Back

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Women&, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book After Silence by Nancy Venable Raine, Crown/Archetype
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Nancy Venable Raine ISBN: 9780307765031
Publisher: Crown/Archetype Publication: September 22, 2010
Imprint: Crown Language: English
Author: Nancy Venable Raine
ISBN: 9780307765031
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Publication: September 22, 2010
Imprint: Crown
Language: English

"Silence has the rusty taste of shame. The words shut up are the most terrible words I know. . . . The man who raped me spat these words out over and over during the hours of my attack--when I screamed, when I tried to talk him out of what he was doing, when I protested. It seemed to me that for seven years--until at last I spoke--these words had sunk into my soul and become prophecy. And it seems to me now that these words, the brutish message of tyrants, preserve the darkness that still covers this pervasive crime. The real shame, as I have learned, is to consent to them."

After Silence is Nancy Venable Raine's eloquent, profoundly moving response to her rapist's command to "shut up," a command that is so often echoed by society and internalized by rape victims. Beginning with her assault by a stranger in her home in 1985, Raine's riveting narrative of the ten-year aftermath of her rape brings to light the truth that survivors of traumatic experiences know--a trauma does not end when you find yourself alive.

Just as devastating as the rape itself was the silence that shrouded it, a silence born of her own feelings of shame as well as the incomprehension of others. Raine gives shape, form, and voice to the "unspeakable" and exposes the misconceptions and cruelties that surround this prevalent though hidden crime. With formidable power and in intimate detail, she probes the long-term psychological and physiological aftereffects of rape, its tangled sexual confusions, the treatment of rape by the media and the legal and medical professions, and contemporary cultural views of victimhood.

For anyone, female or male, who has suffered from or witnessed the shattering effects of rape, After Silence inspires and points the way to healing. This landmark book is a stunning literary achievement that is a testimony to the power of language to transform the worst sort of violation and suffering into meaning and into art.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

"Silence has the rusty taste of shame. The words shut up are the most terrible words I know. . . . The man who raped me spat these words out over and over during the hours of my attack--when I screamed, when I tried to talk him out of what he was doing, when I protested. It seemed to me that for seven years--until at last I spoke--these words had sunk into my soul and become prophecy. And it seems to me now that these words, the brutish message of tyrants, preserve the darkness that still covers this pervasive crime. The real shame, as I have learned, is to consent to them."

After Silence is Nancy Venable Raine's eloquent, profoundly moving response to her rapist's command to "shut up," a command that is so often echoed by society and internalized by rape victims. Beginning with her assault by a stranger in her home in 1985, Raine's riveting narrative of the ten-year aftermath of her rape brings to light the truth that survivors of traumatic experiences know--a trauma does not end when you find yourself alive.

Just as devastating as the rape itself was the silence that shrouded it, a silence born of her own feelings of shame as well as the incomprehension of others. Raine gives shape, form, and voice to the "unspeakable" and exposes the misconceptions and cruelties that surround this prevalent though hidden crime. With formidable power and in intimate detail, she probes the long-term psychological and physiological aftereffects of rape, its tangled sexual confusions, the treatment of rape by the media and the legal and medical professions, and contemporary cultural views of victimhood.

For anyone, female or male, who has suffered from or witnessed the shattering effects of rape, After Silence inspires and points the way to healing. This landmark book is a stunning literary achievement that is a testimony to the power of language to transform the worst sort of violation and suffering into meaning and into art.

More books from Biography & Memoir

Cover of the book Fatty Batter by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Complete Surrender by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book La Commessa del Lunedi by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Lost in the Clouds by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Things I Didn't Know by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book After a While You Just Get Used to It by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book See Hear Yoko by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book I Choose To Live by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Desperate Measures by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Chosen by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Les Parisiennes by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Runaway Thoughts by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Heading for Home by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Losing It by Nancy Venable Raine
Cover of the book Doctor Hugh: My life with animals by Nancy Venable Raine
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy