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What My Bones Know

A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

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What My Bones Know

Written by: Stephanie Foo
Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
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About this listen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •

A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life

“Achingly exquisite . . . providing real hope for those who long to heal.”—Lori Gottlieb,
New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, NPR, Mashable, She Reads, Publishers Weekly

By age thirty, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.

Both of Foo’s parents abandoned her when she was a teenager, after years of physical and verbal abuse and neglect. She thought she’d moved on, but her new diagnosis illuminated the way her past continued to threaten her health, relationships, and career. She found limited resources to help her, so Foo set out to heal herself, and to map her experiences onto the scarce literature about C-PTSD.

In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don’t move on from trauma—but you can learn to move with it.

Powerful, enlightening, and hopeful, What My Bones Know is a brave narrative that reckons with the hold of the past over the present, the mind over the body—and examines one woman’s ability to reclaim agency from her trauma.

©2022 Stephanie Foo (P)2022 Random House Audio
Biographies & Memoirs Mental Health Psychology Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Native Spirituality Trauma Memoir
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What the critics say

“Absorbing . . . a reckoning, and Foo approaches it with candor and rigor . . . profoundly affecting.”The New York Times

“Foo’s happy ending is nothing short of deliverance—rich and joyful and full of care the child was denied. . . . Possibility still glows around the edges of her sight.”USA Today

“An unflinching reminder of the hidden struggles many face, told with the keen eye of a researcher and the brutality of a documentarian.”—NPR

What listeners say about What My Bones Know

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PROFOUND!!!!!

I listend to this in a binge of love and passion. I want to listen to the end over again. listening to her and the therapist is super amazing. Bravo!!! Gives me sooo much faith!

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Wildly Relatable!

Going into this reading I didn’t think it would be relevant to me on any personal level. I was so wrong! Even without a history of abuse or PTSD, the journey of healing and searching for appropriate supports and counsellors, while often feeling like you’re one step forward and two steps back was spot on. Stephanie is so open about her journey and it’s a great reminder that you’re not alone.

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A Book Right on Time

This came at the right time for my son and I as we go through trauma remembered and figure out how to live with the trail of lifetime impacts and having the courage to seek therapy.

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So real!

Stephanie's story is captivating and honest. As a CPTSD survivor myself, I want everybody I know to read this book. It made me feel seen - even though the nature of my trauma is different from hers, our journeys have so much overlap. She has articulated the nature of recovery beautifully.

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Pages of notes and a sea of tears

This books changed the way I look at my abuse, who I am and how I receive and treat those around me. I’ve never cried so much listening to a book. It made so much about my life and behaviour click and make sense. Stephanie does an excellent job narrating. Hard recommend.

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I just listened to my whole life.

This book has made me look at my abuse. The only difference between myself and Stephanie is, I didn’t express any emotions. Now I am going through them all.

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Really relatable to people with CPTSD

This was such a well written, relatable memoir of someone’s real story and grapple with complex trauma. Can really relate.

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Absolutely Amazing!

I have been struggling for years to figure out whats wrong with “me”, and why I am the person I am today. Finally I have so much clarity and understanding, but most of all, I feel I have some tools to move beyond who I am, and become a better version. Thank you from the bottom of my heart Stephanie 🙏

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A must-read for those living with CPTSD

Wow. This book was so honest, raw, and necessary in order to validate and make me learn more about my own experience with CPTSD. While the author’s own experience was heartbreaking to listen to in the beginning chapters, her struggles, thoughts, and analyses in the subsequent chapters made so much sense because of them.

Thank you for writing this book and for putting words to the thoughts and emotions that I’ve had throughout my time beyond childhood.

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So enlightening and helpful

Loved this book because it delivered so much more than I anticipated. I have been on a journey with my own mental health for over 10 years and am quite well versed with trauma, therapy etc. I didn’t read this book to learn more, but I learned so much with how the author articulated her own experience and explained what she had learned.
Thank you for sharing your story and your road to recovery - this book has helped me uncover layers of my own healing and I’m sure will help many others as well.

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2 people found this helpful