"What Happened to You?": Writing by Disabled Women

The essays, fiction, and poetry she gathered for What Happened to You? share differing experiences of women who are disabled or ill. A dancer who broke her neck performing talks of loathing the sense of being on show in the "lofty heights" of her wheelchair until she learned to dance quite differently. One woman gives voice to the undercurrents of anger, uncertainty, fear, and humiliation that colon cancer visits upon her. A disabled adoptive mother finds black humor seeking someone in similar circumstances through the personal ads only to be matched with an "athletic outdoor woman who enjoys hill-walking, climbing, and water sports."

Not all of the writing is polished, but most of it comes from the heart and rings true quite loudly. --Francesca Coltrera