excavation: a memoir

when i was in high school, i befriended a teacher. he confided in me. shared with me intimate details of his life in a way that flattered me. i was certain that i loved him and, since i couldn't be with him because of our age, roles, and him being married, i thought, "that's the kind of man i want to marry one day."

for me, it is easy to see how the attention girls receive from men in their youth and adolescence seriously impacts their growth and journey into adulthood. in excavation, wendy ortiz delves into her trauma of two and a half decades earlier and tells the reader of the impact the five-year relationship of a sexual nature she had with her eighth grade teacher had on her and the woman, teacher, mother she came to be.

while my own personal experience does not exactly mirror wendy's, it was still incredibly difficult for me to read this book. it is raw and open and vulnerable. i commend wendy for splaying her past open and sharing with us this part of her life that took her a very long time to fully accept for what it was. if the content is not something that immediately catches your eye, i would recommend this book alone on the writing. wendy is deeply talented, writing in this incredibly fluid, sincere manner that has you shedding tears for the girl no one saved and the undeniably strong person she has become. i sincerely hope that her wish that this memoir, published by a small indie press, is one day picked up by a larger house comes true so that even more people read her story and know that they are not alone.