#intergenerational-trauma

#intergenerational-trauma

Graciela Maria Ferreira or Grachu to her loved ones is late with the rent again, and she needs the money now. Unfortunately, she's spent her last dollars on a plush couch and her landlord is waiting on her doorstep. Grachu isn't always a believer but today she needs God to find her a new job. So begins Hailstones Fell Without Rain Natalia Figueroa Barroso's debut, and the second published novel by a Uruguayan-Australian writer.

Becky Manawatu described her debut, 2022's Aue, as a breath in. Its follow-up, Kataraina, she has called a breath out. It continues that first novel's themes of intergenerational trauma and violence within a largely Maori community based around the town of Kaikoura, on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. Aue won multiple awards in New Zealand and became an international bestseller; while Kataraina fleshes out its backstory, it can also be read as a thrillingly immersive standalone.

People often carry emotional patterns, strengths and vulnerabilities from their ancestors - and there is some evidence that these can be physically passed down.

Black motherhood is a cultural inheritance and a psychological blueprint, often a form of resistance. It's rich in complexities shaped by racial trauma and cultural expectations.

The film artfully explores the interplay of guilt, shame, and yearning across generations, revealing how deeply repressed traumas manifest in the lives of descendants.