She believed that her background in theater had influenced her writing, allowing her to create new characters and bring them to life for the reader. Since 2000, she wrote under the pseudonym of Cara Summers. She sold her first Temptation to Harlequin in 1994, and that book, C.J.'s Defense as Carolyn Andrews, also sits on her desk - right next to the dictionary. Only after her three sons were born that she turned her full attention to writing again. She married Mr Hanlon, and had three sons: Kevin D., Brian A, and Brendan J. Sister Rose Terrence insisted that she enter a short story contest sponsored by the Detroit News, and Cara won! Of course, she was thrilled with the award - a dictionary that still sits on her desk - but at that time, her goal in life was to become an actress, and eventually, she attained that goal. Concurrently, she was also teaching at Onondaga Community College.Ĭarolyn blamed her tenth grade English teacher for nudging her into the writer's life. After retiring as a teacher with the Fayetteville-Manlius School District, she joined the faculty at Syracuse University as an adjunct professor in the writing department. She continued her studies attending Syracuse University receiving her Master’s in English Education. She graduated from Dominican High School in Detroit and completed her undergraduate education at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. 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.Carolyn Fulgenzi was born on 28 July 1940 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, daughter of Janet (McLaughlin) and Andrew Fulgenzi. 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. As head writer for the soap opera Secrets, she was used to living vicariously through her characters. Leaning too heavily on her thesis, she runs the risk of reinforcing the historically dangerous assumption that women’s chronic conditions are psychosomatic – which would be, it seems, the opposite of her intent. by Cara Summers 3.50 Rating details 2 ratings 0 reviews It was a dark and sexy night.and Brooke Ashby knew she was in over her head. I suffer from illnesses very similar – and in one case the same – as those she writes about, but have thankfully had no associated experience of violence, assault or trauma. Unfortunately, there is little corresponding exploration of the more straightforward experience of many women who developed these same medical conditions without the associated psychological connections. She explores the conditions of Crohn’s disease and vaginismus through the same lens: as direct results of experiences of assault and trauma. She writes at length about her experience of endometriosis, and the way in which the condition is triggered by external trauma for some sufferers. In addition, her exploration of chronic illness frames auto-immune conditions as a physical manifestation of psychological trauma. The characterisation of masculinity – as driven by the sexual desire to dominate – seems simplistic at times, and overlooks how male experiences of gender norms and trauma can be drivers of male perpetrated violence. But in building evidence towards her presumed central thesis – that experiences of trauma have a physical, tangible impact on the bodies of survivors – she at times fails to show the whole story. The book is weighted heavily towards the social and political drivers of trauma and inequality – and there’s no doubting Osborne-Crowley’s observations about the ways institutions have enabled the sexual grooming of children, or the structural gender inequality at the heart of the medical system. Karen Miller is in witness protection with a new identity as Emma Hall when she befriends a girl who subsequently dies, it triggers dark memories of her dead serial killer. It’s a book that is trying to do so many things without ever fully satisfying the exploration of any one topic (each of which could easily be a book in itself). Each chapter jumps from interviews to the writer’s experiences to heavily quoted source material, creating a hybrid of academic prose, memoir and reportage. Osborne-Crowley travels from topic to topic – and often all the way back again – without a clear narrative arc or throughline. The structure of the book is sprawling and overwhelming at times. But rather than building on the insights from I Choose Elena and stepping into a new space – to examine the structural drivers of violence against women, for instance – My Body Keeps Your Secrets feels like an addendum to her memoir that doesn’t quite manage to stand on its own. The accumulation of these stories paints an authentic picture of the complexity and diversity of experiences of trauma, adding depth to Osborne-Crowley’s personal account, which makes up a large portion of the book.
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