'Blackness is an art not a science. It is a paradox: intangible and visceral; a situation and a story. It is the thread that connects these essays but its significance as an experience emerges randomly unpredictably. . . . Race is the story of my life and therefore black is the body of this book.'In twelve intensely personal interconnected essays Emily Bernard sets out to tell stories from her life that enable her to talk about truth race family and relationships and much more. She observes the complexities and paradoxes the haunting memories and ambushing realities of growing up black in the South with a family name inherited from a white man of getting a PhD from Yale of marrying a white man from the North of adopting two babies from Ethiopia of teaching at a white college and living in America's New England today.Ultimately she shows us that it is in our shared experience of humanity that we find connection happiness and hope.What readers are saying:'Perspective changing essays' *****'A page-turner - full of empathy love and insight' *****'I raced through this' *****'I loved it' *****'Exquisitely crafted' *****'Essential reading' *****'I couldn't put it down' *****'Beautifully written. A must read for all races' *****'I loved everything about this book' *****
