Where Courage Lives

At a time when healing felt abstract and fragmented, I was searching for something that could speak to both the science and the soul of recovery.

I stumbled across This Happened to Me unexpectedly during a time when I was diving into self-administered EMDR therapy, soaking up videos from trauma experts, and trying to understand what healing might actually look like. Bessel van der Kolk’s quote on the front cover—“A brilliant and moving account of a journey of healing”—was the reason I began reading it. His work had already shaped how I understood trauma, so his endorsement carried weight.

I thought the book would be another guide toward healing, but what I found was something raw and powerful. A story not about easy answers but about real pain, resilience, and moments of quiet courage.

Where the Story Begins

Kate Price grew up in a small, tightly knit Pennsylvania town choked by poverty, addiction, and cycles of abuse. These are things most people barely whisper about. Her family life, especially with her father, was dangerous and silent, scarred in a way that is hard to put into words. Slowly and painfully, she began piecing together broken memories and reclaiming her story.

It struck me how trauma often lives in the body long before the mind can make sense of it. Healing is not a single dramatic moment. It is a series of tiny steps forward, often invisible yet deeply powerful.

The Fragility of Family

One of the most beautiful and heartbreaking parts is her relationship with her sister, Sissy. Years of silence and pain almost broke them apart, yet they found a way back toward forgiveness. It is a reminder that family can hurt us deeply but also be where we find the most unexpected chances to heal. That slow and fragile mending feels so real, and so necessary.

Lifelines Beyond Blood

There are people beyond family who became lifelines too. Janelle Nanos, a journalist with the Boston Globe, treated her story with the care and respect it deserved, giving voice to her pain and her survival. Their work together opened up crucial conversations that so many desperately need. You realise how important it is to have someone on your side who listens without judgment and helps you tell your truth.

Support came not only from family but through steadfast friendships and chosen bonds. Maureen and Chris remain unwavering, walking with her through the darkest paths. And the choice to adopt N is hope in action. It is a reclaiming of family, love, and future on her own terms, despite a past shadowed by trauma.

A Mirror to Our Own Realities

Reading this made me think about those realities not just there but here, right in South Africa and across the world, where gender-based violence is rampant. The terrifyingly high rates here make this story feel not just personal but painfully familiar and urgent. So much pain remains hidden in silence, and the task to break those cycles and that silence feels enormous.

Her story fits into that larger, global reality while remaining deeply her own. There are countless stories about abuse and survival, all vital, all deserving our attention and compassion. Every voice raised is a step toward change.

The Truth About Healing

What stood out is that this isn’t an easy story with neat endings. Healing isn’t tidy. It’s slow and patient, where courage lives beside pain, battered and bruised but unbroken. It reminded me that recovery is never linear. Sometimes you move forward, sometimes you stumble. Having solid, caring people around can make all the difference in those moments when you’re barely holding on.

The narrative’s raw transparency left a lasting impression. There’s no sugarcoating or attempt to make it pretty. It’s a clear-eyed recounting that doesn’t shy away from memory’s confusion or society’s challenges for survivors. But it isn’t hopeless either. The quiet grace that emerges through those pages is powerful.

A Quiet Imprint

The book left a quiet imprint, reverberating in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It refuses to let pain hide or be invisible. Healing is real, even if it is slow and sometimes so quiet only you can hear it. For anyone who has struggled or doubts whether recovery is possible, this offers hope through the simple strength found in still choosing to go on.

Why It Matters

What unfolds here reaches far beyond one individual’s experience. It is a call to pay attention, to listen harder, and to act with empathy and urgency. It asks readers to face uncomfortable truths about abuse and violence, not in distant places but within our own communities.

That’s why accounts like the one Kate shares deserve to be heard. They are brave, necessary, and should be told and received with kindness and respect. It is a quiet victory, subtle and profound, that is worth sharing.

Stories like this remind us that healing is not just personal—it is communal. Every time we listen, honour, and act, we help make space for someone else to begin.

 * This Happened To Me by Kate Price is published by Pan MacMillan South Africa.