Don't Say a Word

“What an achievement! Don’t Say a Word! is evocative, smart, ANDfunny, with fresh insights about families on virtually every page.Marcus’s drive to comprehend her past will inspire readers who feltsilenced in childhood or whose talents and achievements wentunappreciated. With this book, she breaks her silence, revealinghard-won realizations and a remarkable ability to laugh through thetears.” —Barbara Schildkraut, MD, author of Unmasking Psychological Symptoms and Masquerading Symptoms“How well do we know our parents? Elizabeth Marcus confronts thisquestion in her vibrant memoir, which follows the final decade of herparents’ lives as they seem to age into inversions of their formercontrolled and controlling selves. Reflecting on their absurd newfriendships and terrible real estate deals, which she describes inhilarious detail, Marcus arrives at a dramatically new view of herdifficult parents and their relationship with her. Funny, compassionate,and beautifully written, Don’t Say a Word is a moving account of a daughter finding her own story.” —Gail Pool, author of Lost Among the Baining: Adventure, Marriage, and Other Fieldwork“Marcus is a gifted storyteller, and her memoir is a page-turner. It iswritten in a way that evokes every emotion imaginable in the scenesrecorded. Hers is a beautifully written tale that is likely true of manychildren observing their parents advance in age. Marcus’ writing isfresh, comical, revealing, poignant. It hits you in the heart from allconceivable angles.” —Story Circle Network

Elizabeth Marcus grew up in Manhattan, the only child of a dentist and a Macy’s dress buyer, the Zeus and Hera of Apartment 2B. After escaping to Boston, she ran a small architectural office for 20 years, when she wasn’t traveling to far-flung places with her psychiatrist husband and rambunctious children. Eventually, she decided to concentrate on writing, which allows her to pursue the many, quirky questions that fascinate her: Why are butterflies called ‘butterflies’? Why can’t she recall the taste of wines? Why are first-love memories so potent? Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and Boston Globe, on online sites like Cognoscenti, and in essay anthologies like Travelers’ Tales. “Don’t Say A Word!”: A Daughter’s Two Cents, in 90,571 Words is her first book. She lives in Boston.