What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, exploring the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life.

“Achingly exquisite . . . providing real hope for those who long to heal.”—Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, NPR, Mashable, She Reads, Publishers Weekly

By age thirty, Stephanie Foo appeared successful: she had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind closed doors, she was suffering daily panic attacks and emotional breakdowns. After years of confusion, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition resulting from prolonged trauma.

Foo’s childhood was marked by physical and emotional abuse, followed by abandonment by both parents during her teenage years. Though she believed she had moved on, her diagnosis revealed how deeply her past still controlled her health, relationships, and career. Finding few resources for C-PTSD, Foo embarked on a personal journey to heal and understand the science of her condition.

Through in-depth research and personal reflection, Foo interviews scientists, psychologists, and trauma experts while exploring innovative therapies. She revisits her hometown of San Jose to study immigrant trauma and travels to Malaysia to uncover generational wounds within her family history. Her journey reveals that while trauma never truly disappears, we can learn to live and grow alongside it.

What My Bones Know is a powerful, hopeful, and deeply human story about resilience, self-discovery, and reclaiming agency from the shadows of the past.