From the bestselling author of Love Lives Here, a deeply personal memoir about facing life-long trauma head on, and bravely healing the scars that endure. For writer and human rights advocate Amanda Jetté Knox, the inspiring story of their family’s journey of love and acceptance, when both their child and partner came out as transgender one after the other, was the hopeful beginning to their new lives. Their tale, shared in Amanda's memoir Love Lives Here and embraced by readers everywhere, quickly found its way to the top of bestseller lists. Yet in the spring of 2020, Amanda began to experience targeted attacks on social media, and they soon became the subject of a small but very vocal group that criticized their book’s success and their advocacy work. The intensity of the backlash grew and drove Amanda to contemplate suicide. But instead of taking their life, on one sunny afternoon, they went to the hospital to seek help. One Sunny Afternoon is a searing testament to Amanda Jetté Knox’s extraordinary reckoning with their past and present to find hope in their future. Triggered by the online harassment, they wade through their personal history and detail the incidents of violence, addiction and sexual assault that have haunted them. When Amanda eventually receives a complex trauma disorder diagnosis and dedicates themself to recovery, they emerge with newfound strength, resiliency and confidence. One Sunny Afternoon is a profoundly moving and candid account of how trauma can shape us rather than define us, and reveals how even in our darkest moments—and on our most hopeless days—light can find its way in. Reviews: “When you read this book you will understand how trauma, like snow drifts, builds up layer by thin layer. The highlight is the harrowing description of what teenage life can descend into, when, for whatever reasons, you has developed no boundaries. Eventually unsavoury characters infiltrate your life and you have no agency to keep them out. Since you have no control you become an alcoholic to deal with the tragedy of your life. Jette Knox takes you step by step through bullying, cruelty, and rape. She never rings a false note on this terrifying journey from girlhood to adulthood.”
—Catherine Gildiner, bestselling author of Good Morning, Monster “Caught in the maelstrom of a past catastrophe, the anxious mind can crumble. And re-crumble. For Amanda Jetté Knox negative thinking was an invitation back to the lonely child who was bullied and sexually abused. From that young girl who found solace in drugs and alcohol, to the adult who was attacked by vicious trolls for sharing her story of a transgendered family, Knox shows us how a triumphant life is accessible despite enormous hurdles. Not only is PTSD navigable but with acceptance, vulnerability, and love, stored memories have the power to bring ultimate freedom.”
—Susan Doherty, award-winning author of The Ghost Garden
“Trauma and shame and the PTSD that come with them require frank and often uncomfortable discussions in order to get to the germ of the issues and move on in a healthy manner. Amanda Jetté Knox has had more of her share of all of it, and her journey back to sound mind, body, and relationships is a combination of harrowing and rewarding, inspiring and cautionary, and her brutally honest self-awareness is alternately welcome and witty. In the end, her life experiences and what she has gleaned from them will help anyone at any level of trauma and shame find their way back.”
—David Pevsner, author of Damn Shame About the Author: Amanda Jetté Knox is an award-winning journalist, writer, certified professional coach, and human rights advocate with a special focus on LGBTQ2+ rights and mental health. Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family was a #1 bestseller, an Indigo Best Book of the Year and Staff Pick of the Month, and was chosen for the 2020 Canada Reads Longlist. Their work has been featured on the BBC, CBC, The Today Show, O Magazine, The Social, and The Marilyn Denis Show. They are a 2019 Chatelaine Woman of the Year, a 2020 Top 25 Women of Influence, and were chosen as one of 2020’s Most Influential Parents by Today’s Parent. Amanda lives in Toronto. |
