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liralen's review against another edition
3.0
I noticed that journalists often liked to say that I'd been discovered in 'the bush,' in Africa. As if I had been a primeval innocent afoot in the forest when the great model agent plucked me from the muck and tamed me, without destroying my savage beauty. I mean, I was wearing jeans in Crystal Palace Park when I was 'discovered.' The closest bush was a well-manicured azalea. I am African, but I am not primitive. (page 159)
Wek handily puts paid to more than a few stereotypes in this book. She's African, yes; she also grew up in a town with white-collar parents. She's a model; persistent psoriasis as a child taught her to look beyond the outer layer. She's beautiful; she's also clearly smart.
Sensibly, Wek focuses less on her adult life (London, being a model, etc.) than on her childhood in Sudan (now South Sudan). Her parents -- who had themselves been refugees numerous times before -- were comparatively* middle class; her childhood was a happy one. When war came, her parents did their best to stay out of it, but there was only so much they could do. Wek found herself displaced first internally and then outside the country -- though obviously she managed to build quite a life for herself in London and later New York.
Towards the end of the book she talks about going back to Sudan for the first time since fleeing the effects of war; even then she knew that peace was tenuous. It's sad to read it now, given that South Sudan has achieved independence -- but not yet peace.
*I am reluctant to use the word 'comparatively', but I do so because the middle class in Wau means something different than the version of middle class I'm used to. In any case, they had enough; they had a good life.
Wek handily puts paid to more than a few stereotypes in this book. She's African, yes; she also grew up in a town with white-collar parents. She's a model; persistent psoriasis as a child taught her to look beyond the outer layer. She's beautiful; she's also clearly smart.
Sensibly, Wek focuses less on her adult life (London, being a model, etc.) than on her childhood in Sudan (now South Sudan). Her parents -- who had themselves been refugees numerous times before -- were comparatively* middle class; her childhood was a happy one. When war came, her parents did their best to stay out of it, but there was only so much they could do. Wek found herself displaced first internally and then outside the country -- though obviously she managed to build quite a life for herself in London and later New York.
Towards the end of the book she talks about going back to Sudan for the first time since fleeing the effects of war; even then she knew that peace was tenuous. It's sad to read it now, given that South Sudan has achieved independence -- but not yet peace.
*I am reluctant to use the word 'comparatively', but I do so because the middle class in Wau means something different than the version of middle class I'm used to. In any case, they had enough; they had a good life.
mrsthrift's review against another edition
3.0
nonfiction, supermodel, model, london, new york, sudan, refugee, racism, fashion, beauty, race, sisters, family, brothers, parents
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