A review by anneofgreenplaces
I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite

3.0

I bought this as a Daily Deal on Audible because I was curious to hear a British take on experiences of racism and anti-racism and the specific themes of black motherhood and family Braithwaite explores, and that is what I got. While it was written with passion and clarity, there was less stylistic/narrative craft and subtlety than I tend to look for in memoir-style writing. This isn't really a memoir; it serves a very specific purpose of framing a very direct call to arms undergirded by the author's personal experiences, so I can't complain too much about the lack of subtlety. However, I did find the message sometimes diluted by the clunky scene writing, even though paradoxically it was her personal experiences that I was most interested in. I think her journalistic fact-based reporting was actually stronger writing, although her telling of her initial fears surrouding parenthood and her ghastly experience with postnatal care was compelling. I would be curious to add other perspectives and a wider range of writing styles to my British anti-racism library.