You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

I finished You Don't Have to Say You Love Me back in January, but haven't gotten around to writing about it just yet. This book was recommended by a friend, and specifically the audiobook, read by the author Sherman Alexie, for it's poetic and lyrical prose. This was also my first introduction to Alexie, a well known author whose works focus on the contemporary experience of Native American families living on and off the reservation.

There was a lot I enjoyed about this book - the chapters are short, some of them essentially poetry, and the narrative is non-linear, which made it very easy to jump in and out of the sotry as I was also reading (multiple) other things at the same time. Alexie talks about his life growing up, his family, the trauma and abuse he suffered, and the long term impact of these experiences on his current mental and physical health. What's most remarkable is that Alexie does so with so much love and compassion, as his traumas are not just his own, but historical traumas shared by his community and family.

There were times where this was difficult to listen to - I made the inadvertent mistake of listening to this while also reading two other books that focused on trauma and abuse, and it was too much for me at times. The audiobook also felt very looonnnggg to me, and I wonder if I would have felt the same way if I had read it in written form. Overall - beautifully written account of the power of trauma (historical and current) to shape and transform lives and communities.

3/5 Stars.