Nervous; Essays on Heritage and Healing

"Nervous shifts the focus from abstract concepts to the deeply personal, doing what doctors (and historians) failed to do: it makes her pain, her life, and her story as real and significant as any historical event. The book gives voice and substance to those forgotten women whose suffering has often been reduced to mere anecdotes, not real people. Seamless and powerful, Nervous is a masterful memoir, beautifully written and captivating. It should—and will—stand alongside the best contemporary memoirs of this era." —Bassey Ikpi, New York Times bestselling author of I’m Telling the Truth but I’m Lying

Activist Jen Soriano explores the long-lasting effects of transgenerational trauma, blending science, history, and personal narratives to spark transformation in this evocative collection. It combines the lyrical storytelling, cultural reflection, and insightful analysis found in works like The Argonauts, The Woman Warrior, What My Bones Know, and Minor Feelings.

Soriano examines how the quiet power of trauma can echo through generations, embedding itself in the body as a form of history. In this striking memoir of essays, the daughter of a neurosurgeon seeks to uncover the origins of her chronic pain and mental health struggles. Through fourteen interconnected essays, she journeys across time and space, blending memory with history, sociology with personal experience, and neuroscience with public health, creating a vivid tapestry of how trauma can be transformed—not just on an individual level but within the body politic and larger ecosystems.

Nervous opens with a provocative timeline that pairs Soriano’s medical history with the history of hysteria and witch hunts, then navigates the human body—particularly neurodiverse, disabled, and genderqueer bodies of color—within broader systems that have long harmed and silenced Filipinos. Soriano's wide-ranging essays explore topics such as the Spanish-American War and its impact on the Philippines, the healing power of inherited music, a chosen family of activists from the Bay Area to the Philippines, and how our nervous systems can teach us to create a trauma-aware future.

With Nervous, Soriano invites us to join her on a pivotal journey toward healing, understanding, and collective communion.