My Name Is Why
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4.5 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
INDIE BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION WINNER
'EXTRAORDINARY' The Times, 'BEAUTIFUL' Dolly Alderton, 'SHATTERING' Observer, 'INCREDIBLE' Benjamin Zephaniah, 'UNPUTDOWNABLE' Sunday Times, 'ASTOUNDING' Matt Haig 'POWERFUL' Elif Shafak
At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth.
This is Lemn's story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph.
Sissay reflects on his childhood, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
At 17, Norman Greenwood, raised by foster parents and in care homes, was given his birth certificate. He discovered his British and Ethiopian ethnicity and that his given name is Lemn Sissay. This blisteringly powerful memoir unflinchingly documents the years of neglect the poet endured before these revelations. Alongside his searing poetry and extraordinary tales of courage, letters from Social Services, foster parents and psychiatric reports ground us in the harrowing truth of mistreatment by every adult entrusted with his care. But from the unbearable sadness there also comes solace. The poems bookending each chapter remind us of the creativity and compassion Sissay unearthed and provide a life-affirming lesson of forgiveness and hope for us all.
