What We Didn’t Have Words For is a book-based project framed as a republication that responds to The Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way by re-examining how knowledge about menopause is produced, circulated, and received. While much existing literature centres the woman undergoing menopause, this project argues that menopause is not experienced in isolation. Its effects are relational, shaping family life, emotional atmospheres, and the understanding of those living alongside it, particularly children.

Grounded in the dual perspective of mother and child, the project reflects on childhood memories formed within domestic spaces where bodily and emotional changes were present but rarely explained. In the absence of accessible language or shared frameworks, children are left to interpret shifts in behaviour, mood, and routine through observation rather than understanding. These experiences, often dismissed as peripheral, become central to how knowledge is formed, misformed, or withheld across generations.

The project is presented as an A6 book, conceived as a portable and easily accessible handbook. Its small scale allows it to circulate discreetly in contexts where menopause may be culturally sensitive, stigmatised, or difficult to discuss openly, such as shared households, schools, religious settings, or travel. The cover design intentionally gives little away, enabling the book to be carried, read, or shared privately without drawing attention to its subject matter.

The content is intentionally simplified and tightly edited, offering only the most relevant information. This makes the book accessible not only to women seeking understanding, but also to daughters who may be encountering the subject for the first time or learning to read around it. In foregrounding clarity over completeness, the project prioritises legibility, care, and approachability.

By positioning the child not as a passive observer but as an affected participant, the project proposes an expanded framework for menopausal discourse. This shift is presented as a further step in democratising knowledge, moving beyond medical authority and adult-centric narratives to include the experiences of those whose lives are shaped by proximity rather than diagnosis. Ultimately, the project reframes menopause as a collective, relational experience, ensuring that what is lived quietly within families is no longer left unnamed.