Set in South Africa over three decades, this is the story of a family in decline. When their mother dies, three siblings return home, a place of complicated feelings and relationships. Their mother extracted a promise from their father to give a house to their black housekeeper, and this unkept promise plagues the family for many years. This was a slow burn for me; a dark, bleak, character study and reflection on the complicated changes in South Africa.
This is a story told in two parts; 1960s Uganda where Hasan is dealing with the loss of his wife and changes to his place in society with Idi Amin’s regime, and current day London where Sameer is trying to find the balance between his high-powered law career, his family’s expectations and his deeper hopes. It’s about the impact of the expulsion of East-Asians from Uganda, racism, family ties, belonging, and love. I found it lush and atmospheric, thought-provoking and hopeful.
Don’t Touch my Hair is about how black hair is never just hair. I found this utterly riveting; the fascinating, shocking, sad, wondrous, rich history of black hair. Apart from the mathematical section, I found it very accessible, with personal details mixed in with lesser known historical facts, taking in slavery, science, colonisation, cultural appropriation, and so much more. Educational in the very best way, and while enjoyable is probably not the most appropriate word, I did enjoy it very much.
Three teenaged girls marry three brothers in Punjab in 1929, but as they are separated from the men by day, working in the china room, and only brought together in the darkness, they do not know which of the brothers is their husband. A young man in 1999, comes to his uncle’s house in Punjab to try and get clean before he goes to university, and becomes intrigued by his great-grandmother’s story. It is a heart-wrenching and beautiful story of oppression, desire, racism, love, and the need for freedom.
Elwood Curtis is a bright young African-American, living with his strict grandmother, in Florida in the 1960s. Full of promise and dreams of college, Elwood is literally in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is sent to the Nickel Academy, a reform school and dream workplace for cruel and racist people. Shifting back and forth from the 60s to the present, it is based on true stories, and is about the shocking suffering of the boys at the school, the bonds of friendship, the fight for freedom and what is right, and the lasting impact of abuse and racism. It is powerful, moving, and clever, and the audiobook is very well done.
I knew this would be good for me, and I knew it was important, but I didn’t expect it to be so gripping. It’s a good, hard look at ourselves and our history, told with passion, clarity, and wisdom. It’s the story of Stan Grant and his family, of his people, of his country; it is our story, full of shame, despair, horror, but also community, connection, and hope. Telling the story doesn’t fix things, but understanding is important.
Four and a half stars for what turned out to be not only clever and thought- provoking, but also amusing and fun. Late one evening a white, social media influencer calls her black baby sitter to take her three year old to the supermarket while she and her husband deal with a minor crisis. A security guard accuses the baby sitter of kidnapping the little girl, and won’t let her leave. This incident triggers a deep need in the mother to befriend the baby sitter. It is a powerful story about race, affluence, power, and privilege, but it is also about friendship, love, the confusion and struggle involved in finding your path in life, coming of age and working out what you want.
Frustrated by the conversations she was having, Reni Eddo-Lodge, a British journalist, wrote on her blog that she wasn’t going to talk to white people about race any more. The blog post went viral, and this book is the result of her following research and conversations. She looks at Britain’s history with slavery and racism, almost forgotten in the shadow of America’s, the white focus of most feminism, and the link between class and race. It is a British book, about their history and society, but there are many universal truths in it about racism, privilege, and societies in general.
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