Overview

A searching, galvanizing memoir about blood and love: how learning more about her period, PMS, PMDD, and the effects of hormones on moods transformed her relationships--to a new partner, to family, to nonblood kin, and to her own body--from the beloved essayist and author of Women Chloe Caldwell's period has often felt inconvenient, uncomfortable, or even painful. It's only once she's in her thirties, as she's falling in love with Tony, a musician and single dad, that its effects on her mood start to dominate her life. Spurred by the intensity and seriousness of her new relationship, it strikes her: her outbursts of anxiety and rage match her hormonal cycle. Compelled to understand the truth of what's happening to her, Chloe documents attitudes toward menstruation among her peers and family, reads Reddit threads about PMS, attends a conference called Break the Cycle, and learns about premenstrual dysphoric disorder, PMDD, which helps her name what she's been going through. For Chloe, healing isn't about finding a single cure. It means reflecting on underlying patterns in her life: her feelings about her queer identity and writing persona in the context of a heterosexual relationship; how her parents' divorce contributed to her issues with trust; and what it means to blend a family. The Red Zone is a candid, revelatory memoir for anyone grappling with controversial medical diagnoses and labels of all kinds. It's about coming to terms with the fact that--along with proper treatment--self-acceptance, self-compassion, and transcending shame are the ultimate keys to relief. It's also about love: how challenging it can be, how it reveals your weaknesses and wounds, and how, if you allow it, it will push you to grow and change.

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Reviews

Caldwell delves deeply into medical and social aspects of menstruation as well as complex aspects of women's health, identity, marriage, and family, resulting in a fresh, intimate, and engaging chronicle. -- Booklist Caldwell's candor about all things menstrual is the greatest strength of this dynamic book...Women who suffer from PMDD will take solace in the ups and downs of Caldwell's journey toward self-acceptance, health, and love. -- Kirkus Reviews Scintillating...[Caldwell] smartly blends the personal and cultural to confront the ways women's suffering has been dismissed throughout history...The result gives a vibrant voice to a struggle that many have been taught to quietly shoulder alone. This is an audacious tribute to women everywhere. -- Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Chloe Caldwell is the author of three books: I'll Tell You in Person, Women, and Legs Get Led Astray. She lives in Hudson, New York, and teaches creative writing online. Find out more at www.ChloeSimonne.com. Erica Sullivan is a professional actress of both stage and screen and holds her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Currently a company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, she has performed in New York and regionally with such companies as the Lincoln Center, Soho Repertory Theatre, and New Dramatists. She makes her home in Ashland, Oregon, with her family.

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