In the Shadow of the Valley: A Memoir

by Bobi Conn

In a landscape littered with disappointment, immediate gratification seems to make sense. In a region defined by broken promises, you might as well take the safe bet, the pleasure of a moment that might never return.

I began seeing my ugliness in the mirror. The more I looked at it, the more repulsive I found the face looking back at me, until it felt like torture to be in my own body. I already knew how to punish myself for everything that was wrong with me—I learned it from the adults—and so my self-loathing ate at me.