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Bloom: Letters on Girlhood
A raw, searching and intimate memoir, Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a conversation between two acclaimed writers about silence and shame and what it means to come of age as young women.
Over the course of two and a half years, authors Claire Sicherman (Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation) and Nicole Breit, an award-winning poet and essayist, exchanged letters chronicling their coming-of-age in the suburbs of late 1980s Vancouver.
Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a candid memoir-in-letters in which Claire and Nicole explore the awkwardness and confusion of adolescence, delving into everything from periods, first bras and body hair to desire, sexuality and consent. As they reflect on their silent struggles as girls, women and mothers from the perspective of mid-life, the true impact of patriarchy and misogyny on their lives becomes increasingly apparent.
With unflinching honesty and insight, Bloom is a timely memoir exploring how societal expectations shape identity, and how we can continue, at any age, to release the past. Written by two feminist authors from underrepresented communities (Claire is a Jewish woman and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors; Nicole is a queer, neurodivergent writer), this memoir-in-letters will resonate with anyone who has ever asked themselves: Who was I taught to be? And who do I want to become?
Over the course of two and a half years, authors Claire Sicherman (Imprint: A Memoir of Trauma in the Third Generation) and Nicole Breit, an award-winning poet and essayist, exchanged letters chronicling their coming-of-age in the suburbs of late 1980s Vancouver.
Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a candid memoir-in-letters in which Claire and Nicole explore the awkwardness and confusion of adolescence, delving into everything from periods, first bras and body hair to desire, sexuality and consent. As they reflect on their silent struggles as girls, women and mothers from the perspective of mid-life, the true impact of patriarchy and misogyny on their lives becomes increasingly apparent.
With unflinching honesty and insight, Bloom is a timely memoir exploring how societal expectations shape identity, and how we can continue, at any age, to release the past. Written by two feminist authors from underrepresented communities (Claire is a Jewish woman and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors; Nicole is a queer, neurodivergent writer), this memoir-in-letters will resonate with anyone who has ever asked themselves: Who was I taught to be? And who do I want to become?
180 pages, Paperback
Published September 26, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 16, 2025
Nicole and Claire have gifted us with this refreshing reflection of the particular path that girls walk. Through a series of raw and revealing letters, there's recognition of the underlying belief systems that girls wear as close to them as their first bra. Beyond the memories of my own life that Bloom evoked, I was drawn to how it was expected that we be on high alert to the feelings/ moods of others and the idea that the worse thing you could do was hurt someone's feelings. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring this journey to becoming a woman who blooms into rage and beauty as the rocky, rebellious, and worthy road it is.
November 24, 2025
Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is a gorgeous meditation on growing up female. As I read, I was
transported back in time; it felt as though I was watching home movies in my best friend’s
basement rec room. I am in awe of the beauty, humour, and insight Claire Sicherman and Nicole
Breit have brought to their tender letters, and grateful for their generosity in sharing their lives. It
is a pleasure to experience their brilliant conversations and to witness these two astonishing
writers arrive in their full power as the people they are today.
transported back in time; it felt as though I was watching home movies in my best friend’s
basement rec room. I am in awe of the beauty, humour, and insight Claire Sicherman and Nicole
Breit have brought to their tender letters, and grateful for their generosity in sharing their lives. It
is a pleasure to experience their brilliant conversations and to witness these two astonishing
writers arrive in their full power as the people they are today.
October 17, 2025
I am smitten with this beautiful conversation the two authors are having...It is honest, smart, edgy, raw, so real. Getting to know them both this way feels exciting and like a privilege. They each share such vivid memories, with what feels like ease. Again and again I am drawn to consider my own girlhood, those experiences I have written about and those I haven't. It's like they are giving me permission.
October 29, 2025
BLOOM, Letters on Girlhood takes us down lovely nostalgic paths, but as always, angst and uncomfortable feelings of adolescence dog us. Nicole and Claire write viscerally of this universal truth as we leave not-always-idyllic childhoods behind to mature into our next iterations of ourselves. Brava, Claire and Nicole. I wish I'd had this book at hand decades ago!
February 5, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors' vulnerability in every letter kept me engaged throughout and gave me a window into the experiences girls had growing up that differed so much from my experience as a boy. The authors reflecting on each other's experiences and responding with their own similarities and differences of experience keeps the pages turning.
February 12, 2026
This book is IT! I love it so much...
Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is the tome I wish I had at my bedside as a teenager. Imagine having your best friend hold your hand through ever scary, exciting or overwhelming moment of transition in your life, and this is Bloom. In an intimate, unique epistolary style, Claire & Nicole keep us company as we cross the thresholds of life in their loving company. This book is truly a delight. I wish I’d had it years ago!
—Heather Hendrie, the bestselling author of Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell and Awfully Hilarious: Period Pieces
Bloom: Letters on Girlhood is the tome I wish I had at my bedside as a teenager. Imagine having your best friend hold your hand through ever scary, exciting or overwhelming moment of transition in your life, and this is Bloom. In an intimate, unique epistolary style, Claire & Nicole keep us company as we cross the thresholds of life in their loving company. This book is truly a delight. I wish I’d had it years ago!
—Heather Hendrie, the bestselling author of Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell and Awfully Hilarious: Period Pieces
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews