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  • Published: 22 February 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241979365
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We’re Going to Anyway)

Women’s Voices from East London to Ethiopia




14 countries, 42 women, each with a story no one has heard before.

What do you do when you're living on the streets and on your period? What does it feel like to have a poo after you've given birth? How do we learn to love our bodies again after they've been abused? And, how do you know if you've ever really orgasmed? We all have questions about our bodies but often women's voices are silenced for being impolite or improper.

What We're Told Not To Talk About (But We're Going To Anyway) is an important, taboo-breaking book that gives voice to the experiences of women from all walks of life, whose stories might not ordinarily be heard. Alongside Nimko's story of living with FGM, rebuilding her relationship with her own body and being a woman her own way, these are the true stories of real women who are sharing the experiences they've always been told should be secret and shameful.

The book is a call to arms for all women to reclaim the narrative around their bodies and to refuse to bow to the taboos which keep us silent. There is no such thing as oversharing.

  • Published: 22 February 2018
  • ISBN: 9780241979365
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

Praise for What We’re Told Not to Talk About (But We’re Going to Anyway)

Hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time, Nimko has blown apart all taboos ... Essential reading for everyone

Scarlett Curtis, author of Feminists Don't Wear Pink

Nimko Ali: a heroine for our time destroys the notion of things being too rude to discuss

Caitlin Moran, author of How to Be a Woman

Rude is going to shift the conversation around women's bodies.

Amika George, founder of Free Periods Campaign

Nimko says it how it is. There is no subject too rude for her to tackle. We should all be talking about our vaginas and she is leading the way.

Bryony Gordon, author of Mad Girl

Nimko Ali is my hero! She's an anti-FGM activist and is responsible for changing laws across the globe! She is also hilarious and wonderful.

Zoe Sugg (Zoella)

A beautiful book with such a wide range of uplifting but often heart-breaking stories. Made us cry and think in equal measure.

Pandora Sykes, co-host of The High Low