The Secret Tribe

Book excerpt: The Secret Tribe is a powerful, insightful memoir about one woman’s survival from childhood physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Janet A. Handy offers a new perspective on resilience; in the moment of abuse the critical question of “How do I stay alive?” is at the core of the fear response. This book is her effort to explore both the moment itself and how the meaning survivors make of this moment evolves into resilience. The Secret Tribe uses stories from Handy’s own childhood woven together with her unique perspective from years of working with victims and survivors. She discusses denial and its various manifestations, forgiveness, belief in something greater than ourselves, the transformation of silence about abuse into having a voice, and overcoming the tendency to self-annihilation. Written primarily for other survivors, this memoir will also be a useful tool for the practitioners who work with them and families and friends who want to understand how their loved ones might think and feel. Handy is a former Anglican priest, an educator who has taught child, adolescent and family development at Ryerson University Toronto and has worked with survivors of sexual abuse for over thirty years.