Raceless
'A really engaging memoir about identity, race, family and secrets' GUARDIAN
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
A GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, EVENING STANDARD AND COSMOPOLITAN BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR 2021
'A jaw-dropping story, told deftly . . . a gripping, thought-provoking book' Sunday Times
Georgina Lawton was born to two white parents. Despite her brown skin, her racial identity was never spoken of in her childhood home.
The truth only began to emerge when her beloved father died. Fleeing the shattered pieces of her family life, Georgina went in search of answers - a search that took her around the world, to the DNA testing industry and to talk to others whose identities had been questioned or erased.
How do you come to terms with a family history tangled in deceit? And how do you define yourself after a childhood that denied a crucial part of your identity?
A beautifully-written true account of a young woman seeking her own story amid devastating family secrets. For readers of moving, powerful books about family and identity such as My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay and Educated by Tara Westover.
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'Freshly fascinating . . . She writes beautifully about questions of identity and belonging, so central to each of us in finding our particular place in the world' New York Times Book Review
'Extraordinary' Daily Mail
'A poignant and eye-opening memoir' Yomi Adegoke, co-author of Slay in Your Lane
'A beautiful heart-expanding memoir, truly unforgettable' Emma Gannon, author of Sabotage
'At turns revelatory and profound, this memoir sings' Publishers Weekly
'A beautifully written account of an extraordinary story, as eye-opening as it is profound' Otegha Uwagba, author of Little Black Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Lawton explores questions of belonging, racial identity, and family secrets in her shattering debut. Throughout grade school and her teen years, her friends questioned why she, the daughter of white parents, had brown skin and kinky hair, yet her mother refused to discuss the truth about her paternity. Following her father's death, Lawton bought a DNA test, the results of which led her to uncover her mother's infidelity with a Black man, which she revealed in a shocking confession and caused a falling-out between them. The heart of the book chronicles the aftermath, as Lawton, with the help of friends and therapists, blossoms emotionally and professionally despite her psychological struggles, in time becoming a Guardian columnist and traveling across the world. Lawton builds a strong story around her attainment of emotional balance and her quest for identity and belonging. At turns revelatory and profound, this memoir sings.
