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About the Book

Which parts of my nervous system hold the fear of something that my grandmother, mother, aunt lived through? What came to me in my mother’s genes, her mitochondria, or in the way my grandmother’s hand might clutch my wrist? How do I comb these old afflictions from the tangled knot that is my present tense? 

In unflinching, inventive, and deeply moving essays, Catharina Coenen interrogates how we are shaped by the stories and histories we inherit. After immigrating from Germany to the United States to work as a doctor of biology, Coenen takes up the pen and the microscope to examine her life alongside that of her mother and grandmother, both of whom lived through the second World War in Germany. With the precision and attentiveness of one performing a dissection, Coenen peels back generational silences and historical distortions to shed light on the terrors that her family members both experienced, and were implicated in. Weaving together reflections on language, science, memory, and coming to terms with her own queerness after two decades of marriage to a man, Coenen moves fluidly between personal and political insights with stunning honesty and elegance.

Praise for Unexploded Ordnance: 

"What happens to the body after trauma? To the bodies of those descended from trauma? What becomes of desire that has been subsumed?

These are the questions that arise from this staggering collection of essays, one that brilliantly examines the legacy and inheritance of trauma in three generations of German women. The hurts and silences, ambitions and dignities of grandmothers, aunts, mothers, and daughters take center-stage, giving voice to a range of experiences that feel both timely and timeless. As Coenen reflects on how she came to her own queer identity, she does not shrink from examining her family’s past, sharing stories that implicate the suffering caused by her grandparents’ Nazi ties as a powerful act against secret-keeping.

Unexploded Ordnance invites the reader to think, perhaps for the first time, about the intersection of science, immigration, choice, and memory. Coenen’s perspective as a biologist informs how she brings the personal and political together, allowing the reader to see as a scientist, but through an artist’s gaze. And yet, beneath the strength of her voice—frank, tender, wise—there is a way in which her expertise disappears into the work itself.

Coenen also challenges our perception of what nonfiction can be. Her approach shows both an urgency and a formal inventiveness. No two essays feel the same, and yet there is a powerful sense of cohesion in the reading experience, as well as a sense of awe—the essays are themselves small grenades thrown against walls of silence, denial, and shame. If it is the duty of the scientist to explore the natural world, Coenen does it beautifully by turning her focus to our most basic makeup: the stories we carry in our genes. We are all beneficiaries of her courage and determination."

— Restless Prize for New Immigrant Writing Judges Grace Talusan, Jiaming Tang, and Ilan Stavans

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Catharina Coenen is a German immigrant to northwestern Pennsylvania, where she teaches biology at Allegheny College in Meadville. Her creative work is forthcoming or has recently appeared in The Southampton Review Online, Appalachian Heritage, Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere.

BOOK DETAILS

Paperback ISBN: 9781632064059 • $18
Publication date: Oct 28, 2025
5.5" x 8.25" • 272 pages
Adult Nonfiction: War / Essays / European / German / LGBTQ+ / Women Authors
Rights: World All Languages, Audio