Raceless audiobook

is it bad to rate your own book? anyway I have. and I think it's very good :)

I have so many thoughts, and I won’t do this powerful book justice, but I want you all to read it.Georgina Lawton is raised in a white family and never told why she has dark skin. Growing up in suburban England, her racial identity formation is denied of her.As an adult, Georgina travels the world living in Black communities and interviews psychologists and sociologists to uncover truths and understanding.Raceless is a fascinating, engaging, and emotional story, and one we should be reading and talking about. I recommend it to all readers! I received a gifted copy.Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader

Raceless is a very interesting and informative memoir about a black woman that was raised white. Georgina didn’t find out until she took a DNA test as an adult that her dad was not her biological father and her biological father is actually a black man her mom slept with. Georgina gives a very interesting perspective of race, family and belonging. She explains how hard it was growing up and never fitting in. Even after learning her genealogy she was still confused where she belonged. Her ancestors came from a culture she knew nothing about. Georgina also discusses how her and her family dealt with her paternity and race. Georgina discusses other people with similar situations to hers. I was shocked that something like this would happen, but Raceless explains why people didn’t question it. Raceless gives an interesting perspective on race. I recommend Raceless to anyone interested in a memoir about race. Thank you Harper Perennial for Raceless.Full Review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com...

** spoiler alert ** Raceless is one of those books that I didn’t want to put down, but I also didn’t want it to end.I was engrossed.A memoir by British woman. Georgina Lawton, Raceless is about the identity crisis of being born Black into a white family. Georgina was raised white. Her blackness was never discussed - and it wasn’t until after her father died of cancer that she probed her racial history. Georgina’s mother’s affair was never addressed until after her father’s death. Her father never questioned it, her mother never explained it, and her wider family never provoked the topic. Through counseling, she finally interrogated her mother - which revealed a great sense of shame and catholic guilt. The book has a great insight into Black women’s hair, as well as the Vietnamese wig industry. It also explores the way ancestry websites take advantage of minority groups. It was also alarming to read just how many children are kept from knowing about their racial identity - and also the impacts it has on them. And the concept of micro aggressions was outlined so well.I also related to the book a little. My mum is black and my dad is white. But I have a rare severe skin condition called ichthyosis - which makes my skin red. I look more like others with ichthyosis than I do my parents. I was raised in Australia, with some contact with my mum’s South African friends, but mostly exposed to white people. Georgina wrote that she was “slightly overwhelmed to say the least, and very wary of appropriating an identity that was not mine to have.” - and I wrote about this very thing in both Say Hello and Growing Up African in Australia. It’s only recently I’ve explored my race, because my skin condition took a lot of space in my mind. Georgina wrote of Chrissie who had vitiligo, and so his skin colour changed due to the skin condition, and he questioned his identity a lot. I found myself nodding along when reading much of the book.Georgina wrote a lot about her mother’s shame - and the impact it had on her. She wrote that some British people have the tendency to avoid addressing difference - and I thought back to some of the ways I’ve been made to feel shame because my difference has not been addressed - due to people not seeing colour.Raceless is a really important read - especially for people who are mixed raced, and for everyone else actively working on anti racism. It’s beautiful, vulnerable, truthful writing. I want to read everything Georgina has written. I listened to the audiobook and she narrated it beautifully.

Seriously one of the best books centering ‘Identity’ that I’ve read in a long time. Georgina grew up surrounded by love and she knows that but she also grew up with two white parents and eventually a white brother and was very aware that she didn’t look like them. When she tried talking about it, it was always a subject change or dismissed. This book is about secrets and judgment and choosing not to have discussions. All the while, you have a black child who is confused as she navigates the world. It’s about Georgina throwing caution to the wind and going out into the world and surrounding herself with people who look like her after years of English suburbia. It’s about finally having this discussions. It’s about hundreds of dollars for DNA testing. It’s about piecing together who you are, finally having some answers. So good!

Georgina’s search for her identity highlights what most of us take for granted - our undisputed sense of self and where we come from. Her journey is inspiring and you can’t help but feel attached to her progression from her teenage years to the present day. Whilst many of us may not be able to directly relate to the circumstances in which she grew up in, it is hard not to be energised by her vigour and perseverance, and in doing so be influenced to overcome challenges we may be facing in our own lives. Her dad seems like he was a true gentleman and a credit to the person Georgina has become today, and she has a close knit group of friends with a bond like no other. We could all do with our very own Aisling and Emilia in our lives!Lastly, I’d just like to say how much I would like to have been a fly on the wall for that confrontation in Balham - would have made for blockbuster viewing. A solid 5 stars from me!

Raceless is a very thought provoking, moving and interesting account of Georgina's quest to find out the truth of her identity. It is well written and engaging. Georgina was born to white parents and brought up in a close and loving family not really understanding why she looked so different to them and to her brother. It was only after her father’s death from cancer that she began to pursue the truth more actively with shocking results. Raceless details her journey. Very highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy of this book! All opinions are my own.This was such a fascinating story about race and identity. As the author described what it was like to grow up in a household where her race was never discussed or acknowledged, I was often thinking how very, very difficult that must have been. I enjoyed the descriptions of her travels as she sought to immerse herself in Black culture in other countries. I also appreciated that she discussed the effects this huge family secret had on her mental health and how she turned to therapy for help during a period. And the stories of other people that she connected with over the years who had somewhat similar experiences to hers blew my mind as well.I did struggle a little with the writing, mostly because I felt the tone was somewhat disjointed. It seemed to shift between a more formal and perhaps educational tone, and then there were times where the tone felt more casual, like she was talking to a friend. I preferred the more casual tone, but really I would have liked the overall writing style to be a bit more cohesive.I definitely felt for the author as I was reading her story. Just imagine losing your father and then learning the truth about your identity at the same time! Ooof, it sounds extremely overwhelming and life shattering and I appreciated her willingness to share her experience with us. This was such an interesting book, and I also enjoyed getting a perspective from someone who is Black and British, as I feel like I’m often reading about race from an American perspective.

Phenomenal memoir!

I won a paperback copy of this one in an instagram giveaway hosted by a fellow reader. Georgina Lawton was raised in the UK by two white parents. They never acknowledged race or how Georgina was apparently mixed race. They insisted she was her daughter and she had some throwback genetics that made darker hair show up from way back ancestors. After her father's death, Georgina finally got her mother to reveal that her birth father was not the man who raised her but didn't give her much in the way of additional info. Raceless was a fascinating and personal exploration or race, identity and the secrets that some families keep. Georgina shares her inner turmoil growing up being the "other" in an otherwise Caucasian environment, whether it was her home or school. She went on the submit DNA via sites like Ancestory.com to try to figure out her heritage and find relatives. She wrote articles on the topic from the Guardian and had people reach out to her with similar stories. This book makes the case that a child's true racial identity be acknowledged while raising them. What to listen to while reading...Heard it All Before by Sunshine AndersonBrand New Me by Alicia KeysWhat Do you Mean? by SkeptaPink + White by Frank OceanFormation by BeyonceBank Head by KelelaCranes in the Sky by SolangeNew Apartment by Ari Lennox

Reading about Lawton's experience was fascinating and heartbreaking. She was born into a white family, grew up in the white suburbs of London, and no one ever explained to her why she looked Black. Her book is the story of how she took on that mystery herself and set out to uncover and understand her identity. I loved how she combined her experiences with those of others, along with research on "colorblind" parenting/relationships and how damaging they can be. She handled the telling of all her relationships and struggles beautifully. Although it was a small part of the book, I also really liked the discussion on "passing" of many kinds and the effect it can have on the psyche. I hope many people read this one!

Absolutely inhaled this book. As a mixed race person, raised by a white single parent, this is the book that I didn’t know could exist. At times while reading I wanted to scream, cry, laugh, or all at the same time. Though our stories are different, the ways in which they are the same were validating to read. I cannot express my gratitude enough to Georgina for writing this book, and putting it out in the world.

I have to say, the opening scene was suspenseful and felt like I was watching a movie. In "Raceless," the author talks about being biracial in an all-white family, with no explanation as to why she looked black. The author had fantastic parents and wonderful childhood, but her race was never addressed. This book is about the author's journey to find out who she is and how she grapples with secrets and stereotypes in being biracial. After her beloved father’s death, Georgina began to unravel the truth about her parentage—and her racial identity that had been ignored in her family. This book investigates that age-old question around "nature versus nurture" and about whether where we come from does or does not matter. This fantastic book was fascinating on so many levels and was really a love story to her dad.To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/geo...

[ad pr product - book sent to me by @harperperennial] I was very excited to read Raceless and it's definitely a book that I would love to see featured more often on bookstagram.It's a brilliantly honest and moving memoir from Georgina Lawton, who grew up in suburban England and was raised by white parents. As she gets older, she realises how different she looks compared to her parents with her brown skin and dark, kinky hair. However, whenever she questions them about her racial identity, she is given no explanation and is denied the truth. It's not until after her father's death that Georgina finally is able to discover the truth behind the racial identity that she had been denied of for so long.This was easily a five-star read for me as Georgina has such a insightful and emotional story to tell and she wrote it so beautifully too. It's an incredibly interesting perspective on race which I hadn't read before, where she delves into the confusion around her race and not knowing where she belongs, along with her limited knowledge of a culture that her heritage is from. A definite must-read for anyone who wants to read more about race.

Wow! Absolutely WOWed by this book. I can’t even imagine living in the author’s shoes and taking a step without any clue about my racial identity. Whatever Georgina had to go through wasn’t easy AT ALL — Grappling with stereotypes while continuously trying to figure out why is she being raised by white parents!Imagine NOT knowing where you belong? Not knowing your true identity? I loved every bit of this book. It broke my heart reading about death, comforted me when Georgina made progress with the truth and made me furious when others hid the truth from her.A question to ponder on — What constitutes our identity? I was lucky to listen to Georgina at Harper Perennial's first ever Bookstagrammer Book Club! Such a refreshing memoir for anyone looking to explore this genre.

Raceless is an exceptional memoir full of research as well as deep self awareness that can only have come from the very hard work the author writes about in her journey. With a premise that, at first, seems so shocking - a mixed-race daughter raised in a white family and told she was white up through her 20s (despite years of race-based questions and experiences from the world around her) discovers her father is not her biological father and that she is, in fact, half Black - the reader learns that this kind of family secret is more common than we think. Georgina Lawton battles both grief and an identity crisis after DNA test results reveal she is mixed-race, half white, half Black. I can only imagine the kind of unraveling such a denial of one's own identity and lived experience would feel like for over 20 years, but Lawton has certainly shared her vulnerability, her hard won lessons, and her pursuit to undo her own implicit biases and begin to construct and reshape an identity that is of her full self. In her pursuit of this, she includes a wealth of research about racially driven social structures, microaggressions, genealogy for the African diaspora, pros and cons of DNA testing, and numerous other stories of people who've lived similar experiences. There is much to be appreciated and learned in Lawton's book, but what really captured me as an American reader (Lawton lives in England) was the concept of 'sankofa,' a West African term that roughly translates to "we must go back to our roots in order to move forward.' It is an African concept that understands claiming your past in a way that Western culture hasn't yet achieved and Lawton uses it like a call for white folks, like her own mother and other families where such secrets were kept, to reconcile their history, their privilege and bias in order not to carry it forward time and time again where people of color are the ones suffering mentally and physically because of it. It is a kind of atonement. Such an incredible book. I thank the author for writing it. And thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Raceless" was a breathless read. Lawton shares intimate details about her family and the way she was raised, and her honesty is striking. I especially enjoyed her travel writing and the way she explained and dealt the issues concerning her family and her identity while very clearly rooting the reader in her locations--Nicaragua, England, Vietnam, etc. By feeling myself in these foreign places with her I also felt more strongly rooted in her narrative and her feelings. On a personal note, "Raceless" focuses on the prevailing narrative of need to know their birth parents and/or their heritage. This idea of "knowing where you've come from so you know where you're going" is a widely excepted trope in pop culture. I'm having a reverse crisis of family that I couldn't help line up against Lawton story for comparison. I grew up in a family that told me how close of a family we were, how good we were, how supportive we were. I've recently set up from boundaries for my mental health and the distance from my close family is giving me perspective. I recognize some of my family's tropes as gaslighting narratives that did more to restricted more than supported me to develope as an individual. While Lawton and others feel a need to unearth their biological background to affirm their identity, I feel the need to create distance with my biological family to affirm mine. There is no judgment in this statement; just revealing a note of interest.

I would recommend this book to everyone. In the era of the personal essay, it’s hard to make a mark. To be able to convey your impetus to tell your story can feel forced or too similar to the corpus of work out there, or too cliched. Which is what makes Raceless such a special book.The debut memoir takes us on a journey of a young girl from Sutton who, constantly receiving comments from strangers abroad, and inappropriate remarks from other adults, finds it difficult to believe her parents’ repeated reasoning for the colour of her skin. Lawton entwines her own experiences of grief with search for identity, against a backdrop of the entire world. She delves into her own mental health and her journey through counselling. She also combines experiences of other countries with her own growing knowledge of the nuances of race. Her own story is peppered with stories of similitude, and an accessible commentary on race theory. Every chapter opens with a relevant quote of Lawton’s own choosing, my favourite, the start of chapter 5, a Bell Hooks quote which starts with “It was love’s absence that let me know how much love mattered.”The search for belonging, though harrowing at times, (there is an instant where a school friend scratches her arm in attempt to be more light-skinned), is emboldened by the loss of her father. Lawton shows the heartbreak and anguish felt by her family at the prospect of not having their father throughout the important moments of her life. What perhaps is the most heartfelt, is how she shows stoic and strong and accepting her father was until the end, through their conversations, “this is my lot”, and the actions he took to make sure they were taken care of.Lawton skilfully and tactfully navigates her own relationship with her parents, including her ever-strengthening relationship between her and her mother. She interrogates her own beliefs and explores how far our parents’ conditioning can affect us far later into life. What perhaps may be the most poignant message of the book is that it isn’t her parents’ strengths (there are many) that allows her to grow and flourish, it is rather through the understanding of their complexity, and discovery that flaws do not negate unconditional love. Lawton teaches us that growth around systemic issues like race, is anything but comfortable. But through shedding our conditioning, stepping out into the world and questioning it all – it is the most ‘transformative, educational’ thing you will ever do.

I love learning from other people and hearing their stories. This one didn't disappoint.The core of this book revolves around how one finds their identity and the struggles they face to find who they are. I thought the way Georgina told her story was just done so well. She talked about so many different things from her hair, feeling like she didn't belong, to finding out who she was, losing her father, confronting her mother, and so much more. Every story she told just felt very raw and powerful. The fact she put all of these words together to show the world her inner most thoughts and struggles, and yet the growths she has experienced was just amazing. I listened to this on audio, and as always, listening to author speak the words they devoted so much time and energy to share with us really just puts the cherry on top of this for me. I'd definitely recommend the audio :)