In Every Mirror She's Black
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.7
(139)
Lola Akinmade-Akerström
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick! As seen in Vulture, Essence, Good Morning America, The Independent, Goodreads, PureWow, and many more! "A sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood."--Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist & award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies An arresting debut for anyone looking for insight into what it means to be a Black woman in the world. Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people. Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life. A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege--a life she's not sure she wants--as the object of his unhealthy obsession. And refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home. Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society. Praise for In Every Mirror She's Black: "In Every Mirror She's Black is a wise and complicated exploration of the lives of three Black women in America and Sweden. Lola Akinmade Åkerström offers a sharply written story with messy, deeply moving characters, raising brutal questions and steering clear of easy answers. A book that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page." --Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising "In Every Mirror She's Black highlights the struggles of three women fighting to assimilate into a society that ignores their worth. These characters will pull at your heartstrings. Lola writes with a contemporary flair, highlighting the layered subtleties of the Black woman's plight. In Every Mirror She's Black will stay with readers for a long time." --Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of bestselling novels Here Comes the Sun and Patsy "In her debut novel, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom has given us a story that is at once enjoyable and disturbing as it explores the painful price millions of women around the world pay for walking around with black skin." --Imbolo Mbue, New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers
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Author
Lola Akinmade-Akerström
Pages
408
Publisher
Sourcebooks Landmark
Published Date
2021
ISBN
1728240387 9781728240381
Community ReviewsSee all
"Well told story about three distinct women who discover how they are perceived by a super white world in which all three are foreigners with extremely different circumstances. Sweden comes out of this looking grey and scathingly passive aggressive and cruel. It is also clear that it's as racist as any predominantly white country. <br/><br/>The nuance of each situation was told well, its just a rather tragic story overall. Super sad situation and terrifying in at least one case. But it had my attention the whole time with great writing and never a really dull moment. Just be prepared for a sort of non-ending that leaves the three main characters at points in their lives where resolution is possibly impossible."
"Three women are linked together by race and one man. Kemi; recruited to a marketing company to correct a racial PR fiasco. Brittany; the current love interest of the marketing manager. Muna; a Somali refugee working as a cleaning woman for the marketing company. While this was a nice read, it was discouraging to see two prominent Black women let their lives be completely uprooted and essentially destroyed by Jonny. Poor Muna was a young girl simply trying to live a better life after turmoil in Somalia. I think it’s no mistake this book is set in Stockholm. The ending was a nice twist on the book that I wasn’t expecting. It just didn’t have any more flare or spark to be rated more than 3.5 stars from me."
"Overall, it was a great book. The author does an amazing job with intertwining the three stories! Only thing I'm bummed about is that we only get a complete arc for one character. The other two are kinda left hanging"
C M
Chelsea Martin