Reclaiming Magdalen

At twenty-seven, when the label “incest survivor” first crash-landed in the author’s awareness, she was living the perfect suburban life—the one that was supposed to make her happy, content. And for a while it had. But more often than not, she was running. Running from a truth that crept around the shadows of her mind: the trauma of early childhood sexual abuse.

Retracing the steps of her rebellious youth—including encounters with bikers, prostitutes, and rock ‘n roll musicians—the author shifts into the role of healer, gently retrieving and welcoming lost aspects of her young psyche. With evolving mid-life wisdom, and practices ranging from dance to meditation to training with a jungle shaman, the horrifying truth is uncovered.

Told with wry humor and deep compassion this remarkably candid memoir culminates in a spiritual homecoming: the author’s communion with her Magdalen self in the truest experience of “grace.”