We Should All Know Her Name: A Book Review on Chanel Miller’s Memoir
originally Published: Jun 4, 2020Before we knew her name, 15 million people read her statement.
After Chanel Miller was raped on Stanford’s campus, she read a victim statement to the courtroom that went viral. Now, she’s telling her whole story in her new memoir, Know My Name. Miller starts the book with the day she’s attacked and traces her life for years after the assault. Her incredible writing and even more incredible grace and growth in the aftermath of trauma make this book a painful but necessary read.
This book is a painful but necessary read.
Miller’s writing is intimate and detailed from the beginning of the book, emphasizing the playful normalcy of the day leading up to the frat party where Brock Turner assaulted her. The way she jokes with her sister and her friends, the way she reluctantly agrees to go to the party, the way the girls slip into some drunken, freestyle rapping in the yard once they’re bored. It’s all familiar, and it’s meant to be. It’s an almost-heartwarming look into what it’s like to be young and carefree in the 21st century. Until, of course, it isn’t.
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