Emma Wise
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Emma Wise
by Emma Wise
Pieces of the Mind: Posting Secrets is a micro‑memoir in fragments-short, sharp stories paired with haunting art about what religion and trauma carve into a nervous system.
Emma Wise grew up in a world where telling the truth got her punished and pretending everything was fine got her praised. In the name of God and “good parenting,” the adults around her ignored bruises, excused violence, and called a terrified little girl a liar. By the time a pastor stood in a pulpit and declared that “two years is long enough” for someone like her to still be struggling, the original knot was already there.
In Pieces of the Mind: Posting Secrets, Wise unravels that knot. Moving between childhood pews, babysitter houses, college rooms, therapists’ offices, and the long aftermath written into the body, she traces how spiritual abuse, family denial, and survival-driven storytelling twisted together—and how slowly, stubbornly, she learned to tell the truth on her own terms. Part memoir, part reckoning, this is a book for anyone who has ever been shamed for their questions, their fear, or the ways they learned to survive.
This is not a tidy redemption story. It is the story of a woman reclaiming her body, her voice, and her life after years of living inside other people’s versions of God, family, and truth. For every child called “too much” or “not enough,” and every adult still piecing together a self that no longer bows to shame, this book offers hard-won witness—and hope.
For everyone who survived by pretending. And learned, slowly, to stop.
“Seldom have I read a book that calls to a universal audience as this one does. Pieces of the Mind, Posting Secrets touches the heart, mind, and spirit. Emma Wise has an uncanny ability to tell her trauma journey with both a subjective and objective voice. Her experiences stir compassion, anger, and helplessness as we witness the pain of a child who, like all children, deserves unconditional love, safety, and simple joy. Her narrative is told with a matter-of-factness that touches a familiar chord in us all, even though we haven’t personally gone through the deep extent of her experiences. This story is a testament to the strength of human will, even when one feels absolutely alone. Emma’s insights into her own trauma provide a spot-on guide for mental health professionals, parents, educators, and people who are suffering in a coercive and abusive relationship or institution. Debby Schriver President, International Cultic Studies Association Author, Whispering in the Daylight: The Children of Tony Alamo Ministries and Their Journey to Freedom ”
Debby Schriver
Pieces of the Mind: Posting Secrets is a micro‑memoir in fragments—short, sharp stories paired with haunting art about what religion and trauma carve into a nervous system.
Emma Wise is a writer and artist whose work traces what religion, secrecy, and trauma leave behind in the body. Living in the Midwest among cornfields and quiet back roads, she creates small, defiant art that shapes the stories people are often taught to keep hidden. Pieces of the Mind: Posting Secrets is her first micro‑memoir.