SOME TRUTHS LIE BENEATH

In this debut memoir, a woman relates sexual assaults that have haunted her for years.

Aslan, who’s now retired, begins her personal story when she was in her 20s. At that time, a college professor she admired drove her to her dorm one night. He groped her rather aggressively, but she managed to get out of his car before it went further. She was so shaken by this incident that she dropped out of college for over a year. The author describes a Roman Catholic upbringing, with her parents raising her in a “very insular world” and indoctrinating her to suppress her sexual desires. Aslan recalls that her mother was especially harsh, and after the author left home, they never “re-established any semblance of a relationship.” Aslan trusted her father more, but a startling letter he sent her, after she decided to return to college, unexpectedly prompted a turning point in her life. She persevered and kick-started her career, but she sadly wasn’t able to avoid another dreadful experience with a manipulative, intimidating man. Aslan’s novella-length memoir zeroes in on how severely her parents’ influence and the sexual assaults she suffered have affected her. She drank excessively in college prior to her professor’s violation, which she attributes to her parents’ “heavy drinking” and an aunt’s DUIs. The author even contemplated suicide while in high school, a shocking admission that she doesn’t quite unpack. But she lucidly describes the aftermath of a sexual assault—she coped by going on with her daily life as if nothing had happened and was later wracked with guilt for not immediately reporting the attack. This absorbing book’s deliberately minimalist approach deftly highlights her emotional state, even when she doesn’t fully understand her feelings. In the end, it’s clear the author wants her reflections about her personal travails to help readers who have gone through similar experiences.

An engrossing and profound account of dealing with sexual trauma.