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. | |
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You may buy After Silence whereever books are sold. For easy ordering, visit the Publisher's bookseller index which gives you local bookstore information or lets you order online. You may also order online from booksellers such as Amazon.com. |
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After Silence by Nancy Venable Raine, © Copyright 1999, site last updated: April 23, 2000 |
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