The Long Tail of Trauma

A Memoir

By: Elizabeth Wilcox

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wilcox

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

This is a story of mothers. This is a story of daughters. This is a story of the trauma we carry and the trauma we tend to. So begins this multigenerational memoir that explores the author's maternal history of repeated trauma, separation, and adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and their impact on mental health. Set against a 20-year dialogue with her mother, Barbara, who suffers from long undiagnosed PTSD, author Elizabeth Wilcox opens her maternal history with the birth of her illegitimate grandmother Violet to a German house servant outside London in 1904. With her mother's encouragement, Wilcox goes on to trace the lives of Violet and her mother, Barbara, both of whom are deeply impacted by maternal separation and the complex trauma they have endured because of war.

Through a dual time line that is both present day and historic, Wilcox weaves together the documented and imagined voices of the women who precede her. The historic narrative begins with young Violet who endures multiple separations: from her mother until the age of 6, from her German Jewish stepfather during WWI at the age of 10, and from her own 3-year-old daughter Barbara when her family escapes without her from Holland during Hitler's invasion. Later put on a train to Wales with her 18-month-old brother Neville during Operation Pied Piper, Barbara also tragically endures an itinerant childhood of foster homes, boarding schools and abuse.

In this compelling work, Wilcox deftly weaves the psychological findings she uncovers as a journalist and writer in the field of early childhood education and mental health, providing greater understanding of the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult well-being and mental health. Through her mother, Barbara, who has successfully raised seven children despite her difficult past, Wilcox also shows what it means to parent with intention, forgiveness, and unconditional love.

©2020 Elizabeth Wilcox (P)2020 Green Writers Press

Courageous, hard-won wisdom told beautifully

The pictures Elizabeth paints of love, longing, and connection are vivid. Persevering to write and revise over decades as her intention to understand the effects of childhood trauma parcels out hard-won wisdom.
An insightful read with a balance of painful disclosures and relatable conflicts. Set within a well researched historic context, it seems an achievement of historical, emotional, and psychological import which was a pleasure to listen to,

An engaging narrative on the ramifications of unresolved trauma

Elizabeth Wilcox sheds light on how childhood trauma can impact a mother’s parenting choices and reemerge in her later life. Using her own families history, she candidly chronicles the struggles and successes of four generations of mothers, including herself. New for me was how stresses in late adulthood can resurrect childhood trauma and reverberate into myriad health crises. I would have liked to have read more research about this phenomena, particularly why her mother seemed to improve so dramatically when she had to provide end of life care to her husband.
A frank and compassionate analysis of one families struggles with mental health. I recommend it to anyone dealing with similar issues.