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You’ll look back and you’ll think the scars seem almost invisible, like maybe they’ll be gone one day. But then you’ll realize you’re just looking at the smaller ones, and yes, the bigger one is still right there.
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Elizabeth Gonzalez James discusses her debut novel, MONA AT SEA.
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“Yes: in terms of an authorial presence, I tried to tread lightly.”
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Elizabeth Gonzalez James discusses her debut novel, MONA AT SEA.
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When was the first time you remember seeing yourself in a book you were reading?
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Patsy’s imagined freedom in America, she discovers almost immediately, was an illusion.
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Light reflects differently off near and faraway objects. It’s all about the light.
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I remember driving a bird mad once.
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Always present and never heard, like the pain I feel but don’t know how to share.
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Maybe you were whistling before you could talk, too.
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A Rumpus series of work by women and non-binary writers that engages with rape culture, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
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[W]e wanted something different from each other’s bodies than what was actually there, which might be why our bodies sometimes came together.
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Shame is a treble hook that tells me that 1) I not only fail but am a failure, that 2) I not only damage people but I am damaged, and that 3) I not only lie but I am a lie.
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[F]or the first time, I really see the tradeoffs between privacy and honest-to-god, up-close empathy.
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“No one knows how to handle it,” I tell her, but I can see she’s angry and I’m speaking into the wind.
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Maybe I can touch it and show it to you. If I convince you, we can call it real. And then perhaps it will be.
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In my eight years as a Mad Men fan, the series has repeatedly prompted me to reflect on parenting.
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The first time I listened to Nevermind, I sat on the bathroom floor with the liner notes and jewel case open on my lap.
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Because that’s how it is with sisters. You are them. You are not them. You are broken shards from the same pane of glass, each reflecting a different light.
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What American teenager hasn’t wanted to run away from an unhappy home?
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