Unspoken is a deeply personal and emotionally raw autobiographical novel that follows the harrowing journey of two boys, Williams and Tega, who suffer and survive sexual abuse. Told through alternating narratives, the book plunges into the terrifying silence many male victims are forced to live with, capturing the confusion, betrayal, and eventual resilience that arise in the aftermath of trauma. At its core, this is a story about reclaiming power, finding one’s voice, and pushing back against a society that often ignores or mocks male victims of abuse.

Emecheta writes with a kind of honesty that cuts to the bone. He tells it like it is. I found myself angry, gutted, even ashamed at times, not at the victims, but at the adults who failed them and at the systems that let abusers slip through unnoticed. The storytelling isn’t polished in a literary sense, but it’s blisteringly authentic. The language is raw and emotional, which works in its favor. His use of direct narration, flashbacks, and interior dialogue brings you so close to the trauma that you almost want to look away, but you can’t.

Healing isn’t linear, and trauma tends to loop, not walk a straight line. What the book lacks in polish, it makes up for in courage. There’s nothing easy or neat here, and it doesn’t try to give false closure. The characters don’t get perfect justice, and the parents don’t suddenly transform into loving, attentive caregivers. It felt real, and maybe that’s why it hurt and helped so much.

But what I really appreciated was that this book didn’t just stay in the trauma. It showed the fight to break free. The courage it took to speak. The relief of being believed. And the stumbling, uneven path toward healing. It made me cry, yes, but it also made me hopeful. Emecheta’s honesty is unflinching, but his compassion is just as powerful. The story doesn’t just expose the abuse. It shines a light on what it means to reclaim yourself after being broken.

Pages: 98 | ISBN : 978776291X