What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We’re Going to Anyway)

Women’s Voices from East London to Ethiopia

By: Nimko Ali

Narrated by: Amarah-Jae St Aubyn, Nimko Ali

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of What We're Told Not to Talk About (But We're Going to Anyway), by Nimko Ali, read by Nimko Ali and Amarah-Jae St Aubyn.

Fourteen countries, 42 women, each with a story no one has heard before.

What do you do when you're living on the streets and on your period? What does it feel like to have a poo after you've given birth? How do we learn to love our bodies again after they've been abused? And, how do you know if you've ever really orgasmed? We all have questions about our bodies, but often women's voices are silenced for being impolite or improper. 

What We're Told Not to Talk About (But We're Going to Anyway) is an important, taboo-breaking book that gives voice to the experiences of women from all walks of life, whose stories might not ordinarily be heard. Alongside Nimko's story of living with FGM, rebuilding her relationship with her own body and being a woman her own way, these are the true stories of real women who are sharing the experiences they've always been told should be secret and shameful. 

The book is a call to arms for all women to reclaim the narrative around their bodies and to refuse to bow to the taboos which keep us silent. There is no such thing as oversharing.

©2019 Nimko Ali (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time, Nimko has blown apart all taboos, blown apart the echo chamber and included all women in the feminist conversation. Essential reading for everyone." (Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink)

"Nimko's book is going to shift the conversation around women's bodies. Our bodies, and everything they do, make us who we are." (Amika George, founder of Free Periods Campaign)

"Nimko says it how it is. There is no subject too taboo for her to tackle. We should all be talking about our vaginas and she is leading the way." (Bryony Gordon, author of Mad Girl)

Highly recommend

I couldn’t recommend this book more highly. I listened to it just 2 days and it is now one of my favourite books. Although the topics of conversation can at times be different to listen too they are equally as insightful and powerful.

The narrators voices are also very easy to listen to and I found myself getting lost in the words.

Thank you for writing such an amazing collection of stories