Will I love When Rabbit Howls?

Some books are fascinating character studies. Others are riveting stories. When Rabbit Howls is somehow both.

Narrated by a woman’s alters (The Troops for Trudi Chase), this book really goes the extra mile in terms of forcing the reader to feel the lifetime impact of abuse both through the story being told, and the way that story is written on the page. I won’t spoil anything here, but it includes a brilliant, metafictional ending that has lingered with me for years now like a punch to the solar plexus.

Gaining a deeper connection to and awareness of self—mind, body, heart, and spirit—was significant to my healing journey from childhood sexual abuse. Chase’s deeply moving autobiography is a powerful, profound, and painful story of survival, about how she recovered her memories and coped with childhood sexual, emotional, and physical abuses by splitting off into many personalities, known as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Over my nursing career, I was blessed with opportunities to work with survivors and privileged to hear many women’s stories. In 1990, When Rabbit Howls found its way onto my bookshelf. After many decades, it still holds a… show more.