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A review by keitto
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir by Rebecca Carroll
4.0
This book started out a little flowery and corny, which turned me off, but once I got past the first twenty pages or so, I realized that Carroll was intentionally relating unrealistic, unbelievable memories from her early childhood to contrast with the rest of her life, which involved her doing her best to cope with a huge amount of bulls**t (to put it crudely).
In short, this memoir was good. Carroll has an impressive ability to analyze her motivations, thoughts and feelings as she dealt with the challenges of creating an identity after being raised by white parents who basically ignored the fact that their daughter was Black, and then re-connecting with her white birth mother who also denied her own daughter's blackness.
I wish the book had been a little longer; the final chapter ends abruptly and leaves some "plot points" (can a memoir have plot points?) unresolved. But, such is life!
In short, this memoir was good. Carroll has an impressive ability to analyze her motivations, thoughts and feelings as she dealt with the challenges of creating an identity after being raised by white parents who basically ignored the fact that their daughter was Black, and then re-connecting with her white birth mother who also denied her own daughter's blackness.
I wish the book had been a little longer; the final chapter ends abruptly and leaves some "plot points" (can a memoir have plot points?) unresolved. But, such is life!