Books like Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford

Jeannette Walls' memoir chronicles her turbulent childhood in a dysfunctional, itinerant family, detailing poverty, alcoholism, and homelessness across the United States as she seeks stability and personal growth.

A groundbreaking work that explains how trauma rewires the brain and body, and presents evidence‑based therapies—from neurofeedback to yoga—that unlock the mind’s natural capacity for healing.

Explore Michelle Obama’s public voice through 200‑250 curated quotations, organized into 75 themes, spanning her early career as a Chicago corporate lawyer, her roles in the city government and University of Chicago, up to the 2008 presidential election.

A memoir of a woman who overcomes a strict survivalist Mormon upbringing in rural Idaho to pursue higher education, ultimately earning a PhD in history at Cambridge.

James McBride’s memoir chronicles his upbringing among twelve siblings in Brooklyn’s Red Hook, revealing his mother’s hidden Jewish heritage and their shared journey of race, identity, and faith.

A memoir in which Alice Sebold recounts the life‑changing experience of being raped and beaten at age 18 in a park near her college campus, exploring its lasting psychological and legal consequences.

Louis Zamperini’s extraordinary journey from Olympic gold‑medalist to a World War II bombardier, through a Pacific plane crash, 47 days adrift, and harrowing imprisonment by the Japanese, is a gripping tale of survival and resilience.

After a life‑altering romance, Elizabeth Gilbert confronts her fear of marriage by researching its history and meaning, turning a personal dilemma into a witty, reflective exploration of love and commitment.

Kate Harding’s uncompromising analysis explains rape culture in today’s America and offers concrete strategies to hold society accountable for sexual violence.

Three years after the Virgil County High School massacre, a student discovers that the story of her best friend Sarah’s death—and the heroic faith she supposedly proclaimed—might be a fabrication that has kept her community in denial.

Spinster is a reflective memoir by Kate Bolick that explores her personal journey as a single woman, examining the lives of preceding bold single dames and the evolving attitudes toward women in contemporary society.

A moving memoir tracing four generations of women—from a Parisian mother to her New York‑born daughter—exploring how family histories shape identity and the sometimes painful love between mothers and daughters.

Jessica Valenti’s memoir, "Sex Object," recounts her New York City adolescence and young adulthood, exposing the everyday and extreme ways sexism shapes women’s lives through stories of harassment, assault, and personal struggle.

Shalom Auslander’s memoir, *Foreskin's Lament*, chronicles his turbulent youth in an isolated Orthodox community, his rebellion—including a reform‑school exile in Israel—and his ongoing struggle to reconcile faith, law, and personal freedom.

The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work. Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi -- raped, tortured and murdered in Iran -- Dr. Ebadi offers us a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system. The book movingly chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family, her upbringing before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home.Outspoken, controversial, Shirin Ebadi is one of the most fascinating women today. She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country; but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent. She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost universally embraced as a hero.Her memoir is a gripping story -- a must-read for anyone interested in Zara Kazemi's case, in the life of a remarkable woman, or in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.From the Hardcover edition.

Robin Rinaldi, a 44‑year‑old San Francisco magazine journalist, spends a year living in an open marriage—juggling weekend family life with weekday explorations of sexuality and intimacy—before confronting the limits of her own desires.

Arnold Rampersad chronicles Ralph Ellison’s meteoric rise as the author of the award‑winning novel *Invisible Man*, exploring his life from Oklahoma childhood to New York literary prominence.

From Hermione Lee, the internationally acclaimed, award-winning biographer of Virginia Woolf and Willa Cather, comes a superb reexamination of one of the most famous American women of letters.Delving into heretofore untapped sources, Lee does away with the image of the snobbish bluestocking and gives us a new Edith Wharton-tough, startlingly modern, as brilliant and complex as her fiction. Born into a wealthy family, Wharton left America as an adult and eventually chose to create a life in France. Her renowned novels and stories have become classics of American literature, but as Lee shows, Wharton's own life, filled with success and scandal, was as intriguing as those of her heroines. Bridging two centuries and two very different sensibilities, Wharton here comes to life in the skillful hands of one of the great literary biographers of our time.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Neil White, once a wealthy journalist, finds himself jailed in Carville, Louisiana—a secluded leprosy colony—where he learns the true value of friendship, faith, and simplicity while living among former prisoners and patients.

Dani Shapiro’s memoir Hourglass is an intimate exploration of marriage, memory, and identity, charting the evolving bonds between a woman and her husband as she confronts love’s joys and challenges over time.

Melissa Febos’ Abandon Me is a candid memoir that explores family, love, and identity, weaving her upbringing, relationships, and desire into a raw, psychologically insightful narrative.