Finalist for the 2020 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Nonfiction and the July/August selection for the Amnesty International Book Club.

Joanne Vannicola grew up in a violent home with a physically abusive father and a mother who had no sexual boundaries.

After being pressured to leave home at fourteen, and after fifteen years of estrangement, Joanne learns that her mother is dying. Compelled to reconnect, Joanne visits with her, unearthing a trove of devastating secrets.

Joanne relates their journey from child performer to Emmy Award–winning actor, from hiding in the closet to embracing their own sexuality, from conflicted daughter and sibling to independent woman. All We Knew But Couldn’t Say is a testament to survival, love, and the belief that it is possible to love the broken, and to love fully, even with a broken heart.