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Bloom

A raw, searching and intimate memoir, Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a conversation between two acclaimed writers about silence and shame and what it means to come of age as young women.

Over the course of two and a half years, authors Claire Sicherman (Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation) and Nicole Breit, an award-winning poet and essayist, exchanged letters chronicling their coming-of-age in the suburbs of late 1980s Vancouver.

Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a candid memoir-in-letters in which Claire and Nicole explore the awkwardness and confusion of adolescence, delving into everything from periods, first bras and body hair to desire, sexuality and consent. As they reflect on their silent struggles as girls, women and mothers from the perspective of mid-life, the true impact of patriarchy and misogyny on their lives becomes increasingly apparent.

With unflinching honesty and insight, Bloom is a timely memoir exploring how societal expectations shape identity, and how we can continue, at any age, to release the past. Written by two feminist authors from underrepresented communities (Claire is a Jewish woman and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors; Nicole is a queer, neurodivergent writer), this memoir-in-letters will resonate with anyone who has ever asked themselves: Who was I taught to be? And who do I want to become?

AUTHOR

Claire Sicherman

Claire Sicherman is a graduate of the creative non-fiction program at The Humber School for Writers. Her work has appeared in the anthology Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food, and on Zathom.com. She lives with her husband and son on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.


AUTHOR

Nicole Breit

Nicole Breit (she/her) is a queer award-winning essayist and writing coach based on the traditional lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people in Gibsons, BC. Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies including Brevity, The Fiddlehead, Room, Hippocampus, Pithead Chapel, Event, Swelling with Pride: Queer Conception and Adoption Stories (Caitlin Press), Awfully Hilarious: Period Pieces (ed. Heather Hendrie) and Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction (Books by Hippocampus). Nicole’s essay about first love and loss, “An Atmospheric Pressure”, was selected as a notable essay by the editors of Best American Essays, 2017. When she isn’t writing or coaching creative nonfiction authors in her Spark Your Story programs, you’ll find her wandering by the seaside, hiking in the forest or planning her next escape with her wife in their vintage campervan. Visit her at nicolebreit.com.


Reviews

Hilarious heartbreaking intimate and authenticBloomis the conversation you wish you could have risked with your best friend back when you were 13 15 17 or 21 except back then you didnt have the insight or the words Read this book muse on it revel in it share it Feel your heart unfold along with its stories

Susan Olding author ofBig Reader


Bloom Letters on Girlhoodis the tome I wish I had at my bedside as a teenager Imagine having your best friend hold your hand through ever scary exciting or overwhelming moment of transition in your life and this isBloomIn an intimate unique epistolary style Claire amp Nicole keep us company as we cross the thresholds of life in their loving company This book is truly a delight I wish Id had it years ago

Heather Hendrie the bestselling author ofAwfully Hilarious Stories We Never TellandAwfully Hilarious Period Pieces


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Details

Dimensions:

Pages
9.00in * 6.00in * .50in
1.00gr

Published:

September 26, 2025

Publisher:

Caitlin Press

ISBN:

9781773861692

Book Subjects:

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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