Finding Me
The Grammy-winning, inspiring, deeply personal memoir by the EGOT winner and beloved actress
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4.7 • 39 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'A mind-blowing and emotionally honest tale of survival against all odds.' BERNARDINE EVARISTO
'A breathtaking memoir...I was so moved by this book.' Oprah
'It is startlingly honest and, at times, a jaw-dropping read, charting her rise from poverty and abuse to becoming the first African-American to win the triple crown of an Oscar, Emmy and Tony for acting.' BBC News
THE DEEPLY PERSONAL, BRUTALLY HONEST ACCOUNT OF VIOLA'S INSPIRING LIFE
In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life changing decision to stop running forever.
This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose and my strength, but also to finding my voice in a world that didn't always see me.
As I wrote Finding Me, my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given close examination. They are bogarted, reinvented to fit into a crazy, competitive, judgmental world. So I wrote this for anyone who is searching for a way to understand and overcome a complicated past, let go of shame, and find acceptance. For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be...you.
Finding Me is a deep reflection on my past and a promise for my future. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Early in her brave and honest memoir, actress Viola Davis recounts a therapy session in which she realized that instead of feeling sorry for her childhood self, she should respect her as a survivor. Davis reveals she grew up so poor that she dumpster dived in her small Rhode Island town for food and discarded clothes. Living with an abusive father at home, young Viola also survived racist incidents at school, including mistreatment from lighter-skinned Black classmates. In fact, colourism is an ongoing theme in Finding Me—even when Davis landed her breakthrough role in How to Get Away with Murder, she heard other Black actresses snipe that she was too dark and not pretty enough for the part. Yet throughout her story, the Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony winner exhibits the steely resolve and elegant grace that have made her a star. Her remembrance of her life’s tragedies and victories is a master class in building and releasing narrative tension, making her eventual happy ending feel that much more hard won and entirely deserved.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tony and Oscar–winning actor Davis gives a master class in triumphing over poverty and despair in her soul-baring debut. Born in 1965, Davis became intimate with destitution, dysfunction, and abuse at a young age, growing up with an alcoholic father, and living off welfare checks in 1970s Central Falls, R.I. Inspired by the "true power of artistry" she watched Cicely Tyson display on TV, Davis took up acting, and, with the encouragement of an acting coach from a college prep program, won a scholarship to Rhode Island College. "Achieving became my idea of being alive," Davis writes as she recounts honing her craft at Juilliard, before embarking on a trip to Gambia that transformed her and helped her celebrate her Blackness. Though her success didn't come overnight, years of hard work led Davis to break out of the stereotypical "eye-rolling, ambiguous sidekick" roles that she bemoans Black women actors are often cast in, and win a 2014 Emmy at age 47 for her role in Shonda Rhimes's How to Get Away with Murder. Even with her accomplishments, Davis is frank about the acting world's shortcomings, where, she writes, "womanhood is defined by how ‘classically' pretty you are... how close to white you are." Davis's grit and determination are moving, and her unflinching reckoning with the "racism and misogyny" she faced in Hollywood makes her story of overcoming all the more effective. Fans will be utterly enthralled.
Customer Reviews
Viola Davis
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’ve always admired Ms. Davis & her work. You never really understand why people affect you so deeply until you learn their background. The book really opened my eyes to appreciating what & who you have in your life. Knowing & accepting yourself is vital.
Inspirational
What a story … loved her before, love her profoundly more now. How far she’s come, how brave, how strong, how interesting, how inspiring and how truly TRULY beautiful you are. You’re on the highest of high pedestals Viola Davis. God bless you for sharing your journey and your honesty.
Finding Me by Viola Davis
Incredibly courageous no holds barred storytelling that shines a light in authenticity. Deeply hidden (what we are taught is) shame brought to the surface is cleansed by that healing light and allows the reader to uncover their own deeply hidden shame, and realise we are not so different after all. Silence allows wounds to fester hidden, storytelling allows healing in numbers and I am so grateful Viola told her story, her way, incredibly well and showed us the good times as well as the traumatic. She allows us to see the process in which she came to love who she was and who she is. I really hope they make a movie.