It’s another thing that straight journalism is quite bad at. People don’t ask these questions in journalism because, traditionally, journalists like to be authoritative: I’m reporting this story, so I know what I’m doing. I think it’s interesting to be able to say that I don’t necessarily know the answers. Ultimately, I think, the best thing to do as a journalist is to be honest – about your own vulnerabilities and your own fears. More and more often, I tell the people that I’m interviewing exactly what I’m worried about and what I know and don’t know. No one is neutral and it’s a problem to pretend that you are. This is why many chronic conditions can have peaks and troughs in terms of the amount of pain the sufferer experiences. The body will cycle through routines of sending an inappropriate amount of pain messages to the brain just to get the brain to take notice. The body knows something is wrong, but the brain has learned that women are expected to cope with pain. As always, I have now learned, the body wins out in the end. For the first time in my life, I understood fully how much time and energy I had spent fighting my own pain. And I saw clearly what I had to do now. I had to let the pain in.

It’s been a week since I finished reading this book and I’m still no closer to being able to figure out what I want to say about it. Writing about trauma and shame and the way they show up in the body, the author details her own experiences as well as telling the stories of some of the people she interviewed for this book. A deeply affecting and eye-opening window into the world of shame, articulating exactly how you and others feel in a way that you may never have been able to say. Grace, style and empathy weave through this salient work.’ You broach the topic of the ethical position of the journalist: the question of how much scope there is to intervene, or reveal your proximity to your subject. “Am I just here to observe,” you ask, “to render this problem into something concrete without intervening in this moment. Is that all journalism can do? Is it enough?” Do you have answers to these questions, or is it important that they remain open? https://meanjin.com.au/blog/what-if-we-never-recover/ -- Lucia Osborne-Crowley * Meanjin Quarterly * My Body Keeps Your Secrets is engrossing, fierce and shows the writer’s intellect and talent, but as the journalistic follow-up to a straight memoir is less rigorous than expected. But there is no doubting that Osborne-Crowley is playing an important role in raising the profile of marginalised experiences of gender inequality, and for that fact alone, this book is worthy of a read.I have seen the expression on men’s faces so many times. That feeling like they know, on some level, that they have mistreated you. That they shouldn’t have ghosted you. They know they should feel bad about this, but they don’t. It’s like they knew they were supposed to feel guilty, but they also didn’t care”. After experiencing a trauma, our brains are essentially rewired which changes the way we deal with emotion, memory and reasoning. These books helped me, and I’m sure they can help others, in regards to validating personal responses to trauma. Both My Body Keeps Your Secrets and The Way We Survive are also valuable in showing the range of different effects trauma can have.

Freya Bennett for Ramona Magazine, 9 September 2021: My Body Keeps Your Secrets: Interview with Lucia Osborne-Crowley From Lucia Osborne-Crowley comes a necessary, elegant and empathetic work exploring the intricacies of abuse, trauma and shame. Jessica Payn: My Body Keeps Your Secrets is your second book. Why did you write it and who were you writing it for? Osborne-Crowley (white, middle class, bi) is constantly over-identifying with her interviewees, whether they are a traveller (Romany), non-binary person, Tibetan, Nigerian, or Malaysian-Indian growing up in a traditional Muslim home. For example, Sunita has ovarian cancer and her family didn't want it to circulate in the community. Sunita's testimony finishes. Osborne-Crowley states: To anyone who has felt these things, to anyone living in the wake of violence and abuse, I want to say that you are not alone. I was helped – perhaps even saved – that night by the kind man I spoke to from the Samaritans, by Lucia’s book, and by another book which has become my bible, The Body Keeps the Score. These books have made me realise that fighting pain is self-destructive. That in learning to live with trauma we have to face it. The only way out is through.

Questions for writer Lucia Osborne-Crowley: The author of 'My Body Keeps Your Secrets' on trauma, shame and community -- Jessica Payn * The Arts Desk * Sexuality, gender and bodies continue to dominate, with no shortage in creative non-fiction that blends memoir, essay and cultural history. Look out for...Lucia Osborne-Crowley's My Body Keeps Your Secrets (June, A&U)'

Pain that does not end is not a high-energy battle or a fight to the death. It is the most boring, mundane experience on Earth. It is simultaneously traumatic and dull. Something that should be extraordinary but, because of our lot, has become so very ordinary for women. A lot of the content is very difficult to read and at times it felt like I was being intrusive, as though I was sneaking a peek into the author’s journal. I feel like I’m phoning it in here but rather than waffle on when I really don’t know what to say, I’m going to share some of the quotes I highlighted.

The Sydney Morning Herald

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-most-anticipated-books-of-2021-20201226-p56q8d.html -- Melanie Kembrey * The Sydney Morning Herald * A tender, intimate and generous meditation on the burdens of structural and personal shame on bodies and lives; and a radical call for the transformational power of speaking and listening.’