Firstborn girls : a memoir / Bernice L. McFadden.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McFadden, Bernice L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McFadden, Bernice L.

African American women authors--Biography.

African American women authors.

Women authors, American--Biography.

Women authors, American.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

x, 381 pages : genealogical table ; 24 cm

Other Title:

First born girls

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, [2025]

Summary:

"On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Firstborn Girls traces her remarkable life from that moment up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar. Growing up in 1980s Brooklyn, Bernice finds solace in books, summer trips to Barbados, and boarding school to escape her alcoholic father. Discovering the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, she finally sees herself and her loved ones reflected in their stories of "messy, beautiful, joyful Black people." Interwoven with Bernice's personal journey is her family's history, beginning with her four-times enslaved great-grandmother Louisa Vicey Wilson in 1822 Hancock County, Georgia. Her descendants survived Reconstruction and Jim Crow, joined the Great Migration, and mourned Dr. King's assassination during the Civil Rights Movement. These women's wisdom, secrets, and fierce love are passed down like Louisa's handmade quilt. A memoir of many threads, Firstborn Girls is an extraordinarily moving portrait of a life shaped by family, history, and the drive to be something more"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 377-381).

Other Format:

Online version: McFadden, Bernice L. Firstborn girls.

ISBN:

9780593184974

0593184971

OCLC:

1443718844