They live in an ordinary middle-class house, have dinner together and take long car trips with the family, but behind every white rose there is a black shadow. Within the Iversen family, no one ever asks questions, nor challenges his father, and as Iversen grew up, he learned: "[...] what not to say, what topics are taboo, and what secrets must remain secret" (Iversen 11 ). In Full Body Burden, Iversen recounts many situations in which she, her family, and the community were forced into silence. Iversen's father's alcohol addiction was very evident from the beginning of the book and as the story continues, it gets worse. Despite her father's worsening alcohol addiction, she says “nothing is said in front of the children. We know not to speak of our father's drinking” (Iversen 16). Iversen's mother and father believed that if you didn't say anything out loud, you didn't have to deal with what was happening. Growing up in this environment, Iversen and his brothers learned not to have opinions or deal with problems, such as their father's alcoholism. Being different from their outward appearance in the eyes of neighbors was not acceptable. Children had to conform and hide behind their parents' silence. They believed that by doing so they would protect the “normal” that was