Permission

Elissa Altman’s Permission is a memoir examining the complexities and consequences of writing autobiographically about family and trauma.

The book focuses on the author’s struggle for the right to narrate her life, particularly stories involving her mother and family dynamics.

Altman interrogates questions of privacy, loyalty, and creative freedom while reflecting on how storytelling can be both salvific and contentious.

Through candid recollection and careful reflection, she argues for the necessity of making space to tell one’s truths.

The memoir situates personal narrative within broader ethical and emotional tensions faced by writers of memoir.