An Autobiography of Skin — Lakiesha Carr

In this magisterial, intimate novel, debut writer Lakiesha Carr captures the essence of Black womanhood, richly articulating the private lives of a cast of women from East Texas, illuminating the grief that is carried inside them, as well as the bonds of love that both define them and give them strength.

A middle-aged colon hydrotherapist feeds the slots at a secret parlor, fighting memories of gendered violence with plastic cups of Crown Royal. A mother attempts to bleach her infant son's skin in response to watching police brutality and the cold truth that no amount of success can erase Blackness. A young woman comes home and spends several days with Mama Eloise, Lena, Peaches, Aunt Bee, and the other women in her family, jopining with them to conduct spiritual combat with the ghosts of their past abusers. She, like the others who populate Lakiesha Carr's dazzling debut, needs healing, strength, and it is with these older women, those who come before her, that she will find it.
      A masterful and commanding writer, and a singular new voice, Carr composes a portrait of generations of interconnected women confined by the pressures on their lives and by their alienation from their roots. Deeply affecting, tender and vulnerable, An Autobiography of Skin offers a raw and tender view into the interior, private life of Black womanhood. It lays bare how pain, how trauma, is carried inside the body, inside flesh and skin. And, it reveals that healing may be found inside us, ultimately celebrating Black life, and the places where love, mercy, gratitude, and freedom can be found.