Comic · Caitlin Press

Bloom

Letters on Girlhood

Over the course of two and a half years, authors Claire Sicherman (Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation) and Nicole Breit, an award-winning poet and essayist, exchanged letters chronicling their coming-of-age in the suburbs of late 1980s Vancouver. Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is an intimate memoir-in-letters in which Claire and Nicole explore the awkwardness and confusion of adolescence, delving into everything from periods, first bras and body hair to desire, sexuality and consent. As they reflect on their silent struggles as girls, women and mothers from the perspective of mid-life, the true impact of patriarchy and misogyny on their lives becomes increasingly apparent. With unflinching honesty and insight, Bloom is a timely memoir exploring how societal expectations shape identity, and how we can continue, at any age, to release the past.