The Annihilating Impact of a Mother’s Silence - Electric Literature

The Annihilating Impact of a Mother’s Silence - Electric Literature

“Are you teaching me how to live without you?” Jeannie Vanasco asks in A Silent Treatment, her new book about the silences her mother imposed when they shared a house together.  On certain days, only their smoke detectors were on speaking terms.  Some silences went on for a few hours, while others stretched for months at a time, adding up to a year and a half across a five-year period. The cause for the abrupt distancing usually appeared inexpli…