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A review by theliterateleprechaun
Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir by Rebecca Carroll
3.0
Unlike any biography you’ve read, Rebecca Carroll’s heart pouring and enlightening memoir, Surviving the White Gaze, brings to light adoption and racism in a pervasively influenced world of whiteness.
I was encouraged to read Carroll’s novel by her publishers and I’m glad I took them up on their suggestion. I’m ashamed to say how little I knew about the issues Carrol raises. This was a good book to begin my education about issues people of colour face today.
Rebecca Carroll, a black cultural critic, shares her poignant account of being raised since birth by loving white parents after being given up for adoption by her white mother and black father. Although well accepted by the all-white community and raised in a happy home in rural New Hampshire, Carroll was never encouraged to explore her black culture. Just as she begins to question her heritage, she’s introduced to her distant and thoughtless mother who, instead of completing Carroll, ends up harming her with her blatant disregard for her daughter’s black identity. Carroll tailspins into a harmful behaviour as she tries to discover who she is and how she fits into her world. Thankfully, she meets her chosen family, a black family, who jump-start her healing process. It’s more than just a biracial baby being adopted by a white family, it’s a story about the delicate web of threads; love, family, fitting in, and overcoming. It’s about a girl who reaches into her depths to find out who she is and painfully struggles to overcome and be accepted. It's about what defines a family and the role they play in orchestrating your success in life. You’ll be familiarized with the concept of ‘white gaze’ and revisit racism that is so prevalent in America today. Hopefully, you’ll be left with an overwhelming sadness that will ignite your desire for tolerance and acceptance and use it to help America heal. Look for this must-read on February 2, 2021.
Thank you to Rebecca Carroll, Simon and Schuster Canada, and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was encouraged to read Carroll’s novel by her publishers and I’m glad I took them up on their suggestion. I’m ashamed to say how little I knew about the issues Carrol raises. This was a good book to begin my education about issues people of colour face today.
Rebecca Carroll, a black cultural critic, shares her poignant account of being raised since birth by loving white parents after being given up for adoption by her white mother and black father. Although well accepted by the all-white community and raised in a happy home in rural New Hampshire, Carroll was never encouraged to explore her black culture. Just as she begins to question her heritage, she’s introduced to her distant and thoughtless mother who, instead of completing Carroll, ends up harming her with her blatant disregard for her daughter’s black identity. Carroll tailspins into a harmful behaviour as she tries to discover who she is and how she fits into her world. Thankfully, she meets her chosen family, a black family, who jump-start her healing process. It’s more than just a biracial baby being adopted by a white family, it’s a story about the delicate web of threads; love, family, fitting in, and overcoming. It’s about a girl who reaches into her depths to find out who she is and painfully struggles to overcome and be accepted. It's about what defines a family and the role they play in orchestrating your success in life. You’ll be familiarized with the concept of ‘white gaze’ and revisit racism that is so prevalent in America today. Hopefully, you’ll be left with an overwhelming sadness that will ignite your desire for tolerance and acceptance and use it to help America heal. Look for this must-read on February 2, 2021.
Thank you to Rebecca Carroll, Simon and Schuster Canada, and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.