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Header image: Cover of She’s Under Here by Karen Palmer, which shows a collage of a blurry Polaroid with the text “A Love Story, A Horror Story, A Reckoning,” and scraps of paper, including a birth certificate and sheet music

Algonquin Books
256 pages
September 16, 2025

“Once upon a time, I disappeared.” So begins Karen Palmer’s harrowing and redemptive memoir, She’s Under Here.

 In 1989, shortly after her second marriage, Palmer and her new husband quit their jobs without notice. They pulled her two young daughters out of school and buckled them into the rear seat of a used car purchased with cash. The trunk was packed with clothing and toys, pillows and blankets, four place settings, one pot, one pan, and a sack that contained every penny they had. Living with the fear of Palmer’s dangerous ex-husband had become untenable: This was DIY witness protection.

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