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Belonging is not something Emily Brown inherited. It’s something she had to
fight to understand.

In Momentum, Emily traces her life through her parents’ divorce, silence, and long-
buried family secrets, beginning in Beverly Hills and stretching across continents to
Canada, where she ultimately builds a life of her own.
The story opens at her Uncle Bib’s memorial. Standing in that room of memory and
grief, Emily is reminded of her childhood, shaped by fracture, unspoken tensions, and
emotional wounds that quietly followed her into adulthood.
What unfolds is not a linear autobiography, but a reckoning.
An eight-year immersion in a San Francisco feminist activist organization. A formative
year in Hungary on the brink of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Motherhood. Migration.
Reinvention. Each chapter of Emily’s life becomes part of a deeper search, not just for
independence, but for truth.
As she confronts family expectations and uncovers hidden histories, Emily discovers
that healing isn’t about solving the past. It’s about learning how to carry it without being
defined by it.

Momentum is a reflective, unsparing memoir about identity, inheritance, and the
quiet courage required to rewrite your own story.

Brown presents a memoir of searching for her place in the world after a childhood marked by familial detachment.

Editorial Reviews


Kirkus Reviews
"Brown presents a memoir of searching for her place in the world after a childhood marked by familial detachment."

"A deeply personal story of a quest for belonging."

"Throughout, Brown reveals her hard-earned observations about finding her place through her own efforts, and overall, the work comes across as a therapeutic exercise in introspection and understanding, focused on memories and missed connections."

Clarion Reviews ****
"A searching memoir, Momentum is about a lifelong quest for purpose and belonging."

"...as the narration becomes more internal, it also becomes more emotive, leading to a triumphant conclusion."

CANREADS Book Review
"Momentum is a memoir whose contents truly reflect the title: once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down."

"Canvassing a landscape of neglect, ambiguity, fear, loss, love and compromise, Emily Brown's Momentum is a memoir ready to challenge expectations."

"She beautifully intertwines the harshness of reality with a deeply personal narrative that draws the reader in. Her vulnerability and willingness to share her life make this memoir deeply intimate."

Independent Book Review
"A searing recollection of one woman's coming of age and her search for the reasons why, after growing up among the jagged shards of a broken family."

"To accompany Brown on the journey, she began...feels like an unexpected gift and grace..."


The International Review of Books
"A luminous, courageous memoir of belonging, resilience, and deeply transformative self-discovery."

• Emily Brown
• Published 1970 January 1st by (first published 1970 January 1st)
• ISBN: 1038342716
• ISBN13: 9781038342713
• Pages
• 4.94 64 ratings
• 52 reviews