Books What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence (1) (What We Don't Talk About)  by Michele Filgate (Editor)

"What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence," edited by Michele Filgate, is an anthology of deeply personal essays exploring the unspoken and often difficult aspects of mother-child relationships. The contributors range in experience from estrangement to closeness, revealing complicated emotions including love, pain, longing, and unresolved tension.

The essays candidly confront powerful themes such as childhood abuse, neglect, grief, identity, and the silences that shape family dynamics. Several writers grapple with mothers who failed to protect them or who were themselves victims of trauma. Others seek to understand their mothers' histories or find ways to humanize them beyond idealized images.

Michele Filgate's own viral essay about abuse by her stepfather and her mother's denial inspired this collection, which highlights the long-lasting impact of silence and the struggle to bridge emotional gaps. Stories range from heartbreaking to hopeful, often emphasizing how breaking the silence can be a path to healing.