I Didn't Know That I Didn't Know You: A Late Coming of Age Story

A five-year-old announces she's going to be a ballerina when she grows up and isn't going to get married. At six, she describes her image of God as a man made of metal. By nine, she attempts to read Freud in her parents' library. Following her autistic brother's sudden death when she's a preteen, she acquires a crippling anxiety disorder. How does she know what she knows, discover an unimaginable family secret, and finally retrieve her voice and understand the meaning of her early inklings? Rooted in the historical context of the 1950s and 1960s, I Didn't Know That I Didn't Know You: A Late Coming of Age Story is a collection of personal essays that highlight the wisdom of a child as it informs adult lifestyle decisions, family relations, career choice, and religious and spiritual affiliation. Personal, professional, and pastoral sensibilities combine to explore questions of individual identity, family dynamics, social change, and ultimately, hope. As is true for all of us, the author's narrative is a story within a story. Each essay is embedded in a larger context: the women's and LGBTQ+ movements, developing theories of mental illness, the changing role of organized religion, and the #MeToo movement. "Morningstar's memoir is so rich with details emblematic of the period in which she grew up. Her astute insights and hopeful perspective offer something to readers of all ages and eras. This memoir, full of clever humor, will help us better reflect on the realities of our own lives." JUDY NORSIGIAN, Co-founder, Our Bodies Ourselves "Morningstar brilliantly illuminates the proverb "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." Her powerful and moving memoir is a suspenseful mystery with a big reveal at the end. Like a detective, she sifts through clues until she can solve the crime that has so tainted her life. In doing so, she helps all of us understand that the past is always present but that it need not define or ruin us. " JEAN KILBOURNE, award-winning filmmaker (Killing Us Softly) "What a jewel box Morningstar has given us: a collection of treasures, forged in the heat of history, illuminating ways forward as we navigate the trauma, oppression, and confusion of our lives." JACLYN FRIEDMAN, author of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape ***** Legacy Book Press LLC is a publisher of personal stories told via non-fiction, fiction, poetry, or a combination.