In THE LONG TAIL OF TRAUMA, a writer delves deeply into her family history for greater understanding of how mothers give, and their daughters receive, through generations. 

In the opening scene of this time-hopping tale, Elizabeth Wilcox is 22, recently graduated from college and being visited by her mother, Barbara. She acknowledges to herself that she has enjoyed security and an education thanks to her parents and should try harder to communicate with her mother. Though Barbara can seem cold and censorious, Wilcox takes the first step by asking her to record some family recollections. 

"...a readable, intimate and consummately dramatic genealogy with much to offer to readers. THE LONG TAIL OF TRAUMA will have special appeal to women courageously following the example set by Wilcox..."

Barbara’s grandmother, Anna, was housemaid to a wealthy Englishwoman whose son impregnated her, and she gave birth to a daughter, Violet. The infant was sent by her employer to live with wealthy spinsters, but when Anna marries a German Jew several years later, Violet must deal with the trauma of joining an impoverished family, her stepfather’s internment, and being repatriated to Germany at the outbreak of WWI. Violet goes on to wed a British expatriate, Barbara is born, and the family takes up residence in Germany. Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies and a series of terrifying catastrophes dictate that little Barbara will face a war-torn world from an orphan’s perspective, deprived of even the most basic sense of trust. 

As these events are laid bare, Wilcox provides counterpoint with her own marriage, motherhood and maturity. She falls in love, marries and has children, while becoming a successful journalist and news producer. But always in the back of her mind is the wish to write a book, seeking “a good story.” She is able to fulfill that wish through another: her need to reconcile with Barbara. When her mother participates in a national study, learns about PTSD and is encouraged to write her own story, the mother-daughter collaboration at last takes root. Wilcox combines facts painstakingly extracted from the fabric of her mother’s memories with imaginative depictions of how some scenarios might have played out.

Wilcox is an honest presenter, revealing her own maternal feelings and occasional misgivings and tracing them back through the life of her mother and grandmother with wholehearted sympathy. The result is a readable, intimate and consummately dramatic genealogy with much to offer to readers. THE LONG TAIL OF TRAUMA will have special appeal to women courageously following the example set by Wilcox: exploring their own feelings about mothers and motherhood, illuminated by sparks of family connection and cohesion.