Who Is Wellness For?: An Examination of Wellness Culture and Who It Leaves Behind

In this blistering blend of memoir and cultural criticism, novelist Róisín (Like a Bird) traces her path to healing as an abuse survivor and takes an unsparing look at the appropriation and corruption of Eastern spiritual practices for Western audiences. Róisín’s childhood was marred by her mother’s unpredictable and violent behavior, and as an adult, those painful memories long went unprocessed. Her healing process, she writes, involved understanding intergenerational trauma and recognizing how it has a physical effect on one’s body, and how interconnected the mind and the body are. Alongside her personal story, Róisín explains how the “wellness industrial complex” works as “a modern arm of imperialism” as “whiteness and capital have... relegat[ed] caring for oneself as a privilege.” Meditation, for instane, has been “divorce[d]... from its spiritual roots,” and while “meditation came from my people,” she writes, she learned about it “through white people’s interpretation.” Ultimately, Róisín’s answer to the question her title poses is that “wellness isn’t for anyone if it isn’t for everyone,” and through vivid writing and striking curiosity, she makes a solid case for making it so. This profoundly enriching survey nails it. Agent: Monika Woods, Triangle House. (June)