Book Review: If Not the Whole Truth

Reviewed by Erica Ball

A woman’s quest to define herself against a kaleidoscope of 1960s countercultures

If Not the Whole Truth starts in the turbulent year of 1969 when college-age Connie hears the call for change. Forced into secretarial school by her overbearing, intolerant father and submissive mother, she rejects their direction. Instead, she sets out for her dream life in California among the newly dubbed Woodstock Nation.

She feels in her gut that her life needs to be fundamentally different than the one her parents want for her, but she doesn’t know exactly what that looks like. Despite having aimed for California, some friends convince Connie to try Chicago. This begins a pattern of moving from city to city, and new idea to new idea, in an attempt to find what she’s looking for. Along the way, she tries out many of the new ways of living that American counterculture was experimenting with at the time. 

Among these are the LSD-laced psychedelic music scene, free love, back-to-the-land collectives, social change movements, and organizations like the Black Panthers, and the Young Lords fighting for Puerto Rican independence. 

Connie dives in headfirst, walking in history-making marches, protests, and riots. This includes being a witness to, and a part of, the violence that is often found with such widespread unrest. But it also includes learning to start a fire, garden, farm, and cook in collective kitchens and restaurants. 

As such, she comes up against all of the big social issues brought to light during the social upheaval of that time (and that are very much still in the limelight today) including racism, sexism, feminism, and reproductive rights. 

The author’s vivid descriptions of the setting and historian’s grasp of the time bring it all to life. The author has even included extensive footnotes for added context and information on everything from food and drink brands to politics and historical events. 

This allows the reader to clearly see the complexity of the time with all the different ideas swirling around and how they’re reflected in the people Connie meets. Like Connie, they are all imperfect people, but they are (almost) all trying to make the changes they see as desperately needed (although they get in each other’s way as often as they find ways to work together). Of course, like with so many groups, there are those individuals who seek to find a way to exert power over others and exploit what they need to get it.  

Due to the historical veracity of the details and the author’s skill with characters, this book is highly recommended for those interested in the lived experience of this time, especially within these countercultures. It would also make great reading for those interested in alternate ways of structuring society in general. Its discussions are still timely, as many of the issues grappled with at that time (racial, representation, self-determination, freedom, bodily autonomy) are still very much present to a great many people across the US and the world. 

Read If Not the Whole Truth if you want a story about a young woman trying to find and keep control over her own life and live in a way that doesn’t make her compromise herself or her values. That’s what this story is about most. But it’s also about how two people can see the same thing in vastly different ways and make room for those two ways to both be true. And it’s about how the struggle for freedom and self-determination can look different through the decades but also remains the same. And lastly, it’s about how history repeats itself unless an actual effort is made to stop it.

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