Family Secrets

After being coerced into homeschool by a mother whose love threatens to consume him, Stefan must confront how an isolated childhood shrouded in secrecy will shape his life.

Stefan Merrill Block's memoir is titled Homeschooled.

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Marion and Tony are madly, deeply in love. But there are obstacles to their relationship, namely Tony’s sexual preference. When Tony loses his life to AIDS, Marion discovers just how many obstacles there really were.

This year is the 30th Anniversary of Marion Winik's memoir, First Comes Love.

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In his locked study, Dorothy’s father works on his book. For years. And years. And years. But it’s not until after his death that Dorothy uncovers the secrets in between its unfinished pages.

Dorothy Roberts is the author of The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family.

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Karen vanishes with her children to escape a violent marriage, erasing a life in order to save it. But eventually, when it’s safe—if it’s safe—she must come out of hiding.

Karen Palmer's book, She's Under Here, is out now.

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In 1998, long before Dani discovered the truth of her biological paternity, she published a story called “The Secret Wife” about the discovery of her father’s second wife, a secret marriage that had been hidden for decades. Today, she reads and reflects on this story—the uncovering of the silent grief and buried histories that shaped her. 

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When Francesca sets out to understand her father’s past, she is faced with a world of crime, silence, and denial. But it’s not just his past she must reckon with; it’s her present, her inheritance of a story no one wanted to tell.

Francesca Fontana is the author of The Family Snitch.

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Sam grows up without knowing his biological father. As he enters adolescence, he begins to resemble Bob Dylan. A lot. So when Sam learns his mother had a brief relationship with Dylan in the 70s, the cascade of questions begins to flow.

Sam Sussman's book, Boy from the North Country, is out now.

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After centuries of ancestral trauma, Julian must listen closely to the stories of his family —stories of survival, memory, myth and generations of erasure—in order to discover the story of himself.

Julian Brave NoiseCat's book, We Survived the Night, is out now.

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When Amanda’s parents’ eccentricities take a dark turn toward hoarding, scheming, and secret-keeping, the walls begin to literally close in on her. As the chaos and deceit grows in volume around her, she must figure out how to escape.

Amanda Uhle's book is titled Destroy This House.

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When Kate begins to recover haunting memories, she must confront a family history shaped by silence and generational harm. What follows is her quest to piece together the truth and reclaim a stolen childhood.

Kate Price's book, This Happened to Me: A Reckoning, is out now.

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Ari’el has spent his life playing characters, trying on different identities. But at a certain point he must discover who—beneath all these competing selves—he truly is. 

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Thursday, November 13th. New Secrets. New Stories. New Season. Join us next week for our thirteenth launch!

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Author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin joins Dani to talk about aphorisms and family secrets.

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Updates, Workshops, and Special Guests!

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A ninety-year old father and his youngest daughter come together to unpack a secret that altered—and ultimately made sense of— the shape of each of their lives.

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Not every member of a family is told the same story. Elissa wrestles with the necessity of claiming her voice, even as telling her own singular truth may exact a painful price.

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A box of letters. A hidden life. A history rewritten. Susan must reckon with how to move forward—how to be a daughter, a sister, a mother—after so much staggering change.

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As E.A. takes to the road on a route once taken with her mother, she must confront the stories we inherit, the ones we choose to tell, and the one’s we don’t.

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What does it mean to be a family of one? Steven examines his search for belonging in the wake of disappearance, loss, and profound mystery.

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