Stories of Abuse, Trauma, and Guyanese Culture Told with Amazing Courage and Grace

BRUNSWICK, Maine - June 28, 2017 - PRLog -- A child of Guyanese immigrants, Elizabeth Jaikaran needed an abundance of courage to tell the stories of abuse against women that is part of her inherited trauma. Yet, the grace with which she presents these stories is a victory for women who have long been silenced.

Jaikaran interviewed members of her family to write this book. These stories are true and extraordinary, revealing the suffering experienced by Guyanese women, girls, and members of the LGBT community both in their native country and after having emigrated to the United States. Also on display in these stories is the strength and resilience of Guyanese women as they have struggled to survive and flourish.

Jaikaran also includes points of fact, gathered from newspapers, agency studies, and governmental records, that illustrate the far-reaching existence and impact of violence in Guyanese culture.

Elizabeth Jaikaran was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, and currently resides on Long Island with her husband. She graduated from the CUNY City College of New York in 2012 and from New York University School of Law in 2016. She has written for numerous platforms, most prevalently for Brown Girl magazine, and has published along a spectrum of genres, from legal analysis to comedy. As an author and a lawyer, Jaikaran hopes to be a voice for communities residing in underrepresented margins.

Trauma: A Collection of Short Stories is a riveting and important book for our time in its telling of horrific suffering in a small and often overlooked culture. Its importance multiplies when we see the fortitude and resilience that sustains the resistance.

"Jaikaran is an artist and a truth-teller, and these stories are both moving and revelatory."
— Carol Gilligan, University Professor, New York University; David A.J. Richards, Edwin D. Webb Professor of Law, New York University

"It is the fearless nature of this collection that makes it a must read, but more honestly, Trauma is a victory for all of the women whose stories have been constantly silenced. Finally we can hear you."
—Brown Girl magazine

With her bold narrative prose, [Jaikaran] breathes life into extraordinary stories of women who are too often buried under the wreckage of the unspeakable difficulties, oppression, and abuse they have faced. Jaikaran captures their fire and fortitude amidst a cultural backdrop few can imagine and does so with a stunning first person narrative account. . . . It is storytelling at its finest, made better by the knowledge that these are not just characters on a page, but women in the author's life who have shaped her into who she has become today."
—Literally, Darling Magazine

ISBN: 978-1-941830-42-0  |  $ 17.95  |  softcover

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