Description

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A nail-biting, unputdownable memoir that brings a confronting new perspective on the safety of women and the many ways they are silenced.

"Rattled is a great achievement. A warm, frank, thoughtful book that ultimately seems to assert very loudly: I am NOT alone, you CANNOT isolate me, you cannot bring me down, and you cannot have me. Gunn has bloody nailed it." —Lucy Ellman, author, Ducks, Newburyport

Rattled tells a frighteningly honest story of what it feels like to be pursued by a stalker.

What if your life were suddenly transformed by anxiety and fear? The fear of being alone, the anxiety compelling you to stay in public places and avoid predictable routines. The horrible uncertainty of not knowing whether you should fear for your life, and maybe even the lives of your children. The dreadful knowledge that, ultimately, you are powerless to escape.

Ellis Gunn's world is turned upside down when she realizes that she is being followed by a man she doesn't know - and that she can't make him stop. The experience conjures up other incidents of sexual harassment and abuse that she has endured, incidents she often accepted as "normal". Spurred on to look deeper, she discovers that stalking is part of an underlying misogyny that more than half the population is dealing with on a daily basis.

Alarming, and at times even darkly amusing, Rattled is a thought-provoking, heart-in-your-throat memoir that begins in outrage and ends with a celebration of the howling winds of change sweeping the globe.

"To read Rattled is to pass briefly into a realm of fairy tales and allegory, where wolves disguise themselves as kind strangers. The memoir serves as a reminder that no matter how far women have come in society, in many places safety remains an illusion; we are still vulnerable to violence, stalking, and harm from strangers. Gunn's language is gorgeous and lyrical, and she uses a poet's skill to wield her words as weapons. The book is a battle cry, a call to arms, and a mythological rendering of an everyday occurrence. I tore through it in a single day." —Ava Barry, author of Windhall

"Ellis Gunn's book Rattled gives us a first-person account of what it is like to be the victim of a stalker. She does a brilliant job, so brilliant that a few pages in, I had to Google her to make sure she was still alive. Of course, my logical self knew she was - the book is testament to her indomitable spirit, her support networks and her very existence - but the power of the writing made it just ever so possible that this was somehow a living will, all that remained of her." —Jenna Price, Sydney Morning Herald

"Gunn does an exceptional job of weaving her story with the kind of information readers might want or need to know - both the practical aspects of dealing with stalking and the police, but also the more theoretical aspects of how we might make change." —The Age

"At once compulsively readable and deeply alarming... Rattled is remarkable for its courage, its clarity of thinking and its literary craft." —Gemma Nisbet, The Weekend West

About the Author

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Ellis Gunn is originally from Scotland where she published three poetry collections, one of which was shortlisted for the Saltire First Book of the Year Award. Her work was also anthologized in Dreamstate: New Scottish Poets (Polygon), Ahead Of Its Time (Jonathan Cape), Modern Scottish Women Poets (Canongate) and 100 Favourite Scottish Poems (Luath Press).

Praise For…

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'To read RATTLED is to pass briefly into a realm of fairy tales and allegory, where wolves disguise themselves as kind strangers. The memoir serves as a reminder that no matter how far women have come in society, in many places safety remains an illusion; we are still vulnerable to violence, stalking, and harm from strangers. Gunn's language is gorgeous and lyrical, and she uses a poet's skill to wield her words as weapons. The book is a battle cry, a call to arms, and a mythological rendering of an everyday occurrence. I tore through it in a single day.' Ava Barry