Melanie Brooks will discuss her recently published memoir, A Hard Silence, with Jennifer Dupree, author of The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach

.

At a time when HIV/AIDS was widely misunderstood and public perception was shaped by fear, prejudice, and homophobia, Brooks' father contracted the disease from a blood transfusion received during open-heart surgery. Understanding all too well the stigma that would follow both himself and his family, Melanie's father, a surgeon, decided they would all keep his illness a secret. This memoir offers an intimate glimpse into Melanie’s memories of coping with the tragedy of her father’s illness and enduring the loneliness and isolation of not being able to speak.