by Diane Rehm
First published 1999
Diane Rehm chronicles her journey from a frightened child in her immigrant parents' Washington D.C. grocery store to becoming one of America's most respected radio voices. Her Christian Arab household was ruled by rigor and fear, with a mother whose emotional and physical abuse left lasting scars on young Diane's self-esteem. After an early marriage ended in divorce, she married John Rehm in a union that proved rocky but enduring, raising two children together. As a housewife and mother in her thirties, depression began creeping in until a fortunate volunteer opportunity at WAMU-FM changed everything. She discovered her natural talent for radio and built a career interviewing politicians, scientists, and writers including Hillary Clinton, Carl Sagan, and Salman Rushdie. Her show eventually reached over 700,000 weekly listeners through NPR. Then a neurological disorder called spasmodic dysphonia struck, creating strangled hoarseness and tremors that threatened to end her broadcasting career. This memoir captures her battle to reclaim her voice and her life.
Genres: christian, family-life, mental-health, autobiography, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, overcoming-adversity, second-chance
Setting: Washington D.C., WAMU-FM
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
256 pages · Hardcover · Knopf
Content warnings: abuse, depression, emotional-abuse