A new book!
Dear friends,
I want to tell you about my new book!
I’ve been working on Our Red Book, in one way or another, since I was a teenager. It began when, in an attempt to comfort me after my own recent “embarrassing” first period, my great aunt Nina told me a story about she’d gotten her first period while on a train, fleeing for her life from Nazi-occupied Poland. As she told me her story, the gap between us began to shift. I felt my family’s history in a new way. For many years after, I wondered what other intimate histories ought to be shared to deepen our understanding of where we come from. I began by gathering oral histories in my family. Everyone I talked to pointed me to someone else—their friend, their teacher, their beautician. An initial gathering of stories was published in 2009 as My Little Red Book.
Since that book’s release, I’ve continued to follow a trail of stories, which have inspired a new and expanded collection of essays and oral histories that is now Our Red Book. The book explores first periods, last periods, missing periods; bleeding after birth; bleeding behind bars; bleeding while transitioning genders; talking openly and honestly with children, friends, and lovers about periods; a spiritual dimension of menstruation; and the many mysterious patterns in the menstrual cycle that scientists have yet to fully understand…basically, all the shit that no one tells you. In between stories, I offer short reflections.
Editing this book has altered me. These stories have seeped into my own memoryscape and healed old wounds. I’ve been expanded by the way these essays expose misogyny at its root source and offer new language. My hope is that this chorus of almost 100 voices gives you a glimpse into an often untold and profound realm of our human experience.
You can pre-order Our Red Book now online and through your local bookstore. If you are interested in receiving a press copy, please write to hannah.bishop@simonandschuster.com. If you would like a copy to consider for teaching materials, please let me know. My dream is to do a classroom tour over the course of the year, after the book’s release on Nov 1 (on Zoom and in person, however you’ll have me!).
With love,
Rachel
PS: Here I am reading for the audiobook version. I was told I could only gesticulate if I put my hands very far out so as not to making any rustling sounds.