Key themes
- Reclaiming the self from the case that swallowed it
- The victim impact statement as literature — and as a form of survival
- What the legal system does to those it is supposed to protect
About this book
Emily Doe — the anonymous victim in the Brock Turner sexual assault case that became an international cause célèbre — reveals herself as Chanel Miller and recounts her experience of the assault, the trial, and the years of recovery. Miller's memoir redefines what victim impact statements can be and reclaims her story from the case that had reduced her to a role.
Published in 2019, Know My Name was on the New York Times bestseller list for many weeks and won the American Book Award. Miller had been identified only as Emily Doe throughout the Brock Turner case and its aftermath.
Discussion questions
- Miller spent years as 'Emily Doe.' How does she develop the recovery of her own name and identity — and what does the act of naming herself do, formally and personally?
- The victim impact statement she wrote went viral and was read by millions. How does this history shape the memoir — and what does the memoir give her that the statement could not?
- The legal process of the trial is described in careful detail. What is Miller saying about what the legal system asks of victims — and about what it protects?
- Miller describes her recovery through art-making, family and time. How does she render this process — without false hope or excessive darkness?
- Know My Name is one of the most important memoirs about sexual assault. What does it add to the conversation — and what does Miller insist on that other accounts of assault often omit?
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