Breaking the Curse
A tour de force of narrative nonfiction, a reimagining of the self-help genre, and a brave memoir about mystical forces, trauma, trans life, and how we must heal ourselves to survive.For readers of memoirs by Elliot Page (Pageboy) and Elissa Washuta (White Magic), and fans of writers like Carmen Maria Machado, Samantha Hunt, and Chavisa Woods.
In Breaking the Curse, Alex DiFrancesco takes their own crushing experiences of assault, addiction, and transphobic violence as the starting point for a journey to self-reclamation. Reeling in the aftermath of a rape that played out as painfully in public as in private, DiFrancesco begins to pursue spirituality in earnest, searching for an ancestral connection to magic as a form of protection and pathway to transformation. Propelled by a knowledge of the spiritual role of the transgender person in society, Alex winds through Cleveland and Brooklyn and Philly--from rehab and pagan AA meetings and friends' spare mattresses to tarot readers and books about Italian witchcraft to daily ritual, prayer, altar-making, and folk tradition. In so doing, they begin to not only piece together a way to heal but also call into existence a life that finally feels worth living.
Alex DiFrancesco
Alex DiFrancesco is the author of Psychopomps, All City, Transmutation, and Breaking the Curse. Their work has appeared in New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Tin House, Brevity, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and more. They are the first transgender awards finalist in over 80 years of the Ohioana book awards. They live in Philadelphia with their dog, Roxy Music, Dog of Doom, and their cat, Janglin' Jack.
in conversation with
Lisa Marie Basile
Lisa Marie Basile is the author of a few books of nonfiction and poetry, including Light Magic for Dark Times, Andalucia, and Nympholepsy, among others. Her work can be found in The New York Times, Best American Experimental Writing, Best Small Fictions, Narratively, and more. Lisa Marie earned an MFA from The New School, and she's led workshops or spoken at Manhattanville College, Columbia University, Emerson College, and Pace University. She is the editor-in-chief of Luna Luna Magazine. Her work explores trauma, darkness, ritual, the body and chronic illness, Mediterranean ancestry, foster care, and place.