By Chagit Deitz
 
When Ben Deitz unexpectedly died in 2015, he left behind detailed journals going back to his childhood, essays, stories, lyrics, art, music, and many unanswered questions. Reading his texts, looking at  his art, and listening to his music led his mother, Chagit Deitz, on a years-long search for a more complete picture of the struggles her son experienced during his tragically brief life. In a moving narrative that interlaces their two lives, Speak, Son follows a path of parallel emotions, personal histories, and generational traumas. Deitz's memoir is by turns poetic, probing, dreamy, and brutally honest as she comes to terms with her deep and ultimately insatiable longing for answers, and for her son.