A GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, EVENING STANDARD AND COSMOPOLITAN BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR 2021
‘A jaw-dropping story, told deftly . . . a gripping, thought-provoking book’ Sunday Times
Georgina Lawton was born to two white parents. Despite her brown skin, her racial identity was never spoken of in her childhood home.
The truth only began to emerge when her beloved father died. Fleeing the shattered pieces of her family life, Georgina went in search of answers – a search that took her around the world, to the DNA testing industry and to talk to others whose identities had been questioned or erased.
How do you come to terms with a family history tangled in deceit? And how do you define yourself after a childhood that denied a crucial part of your identity?
A beautifully-written true account of a young woman seeking her own story amid devastating family secrets. For readers of moving, powerful books about family and identity such as My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay and Educated by Tara Westover.
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‘Freshly fascinating . . . She writes beautifully about questions of identity and belonging, so central to each of us in finding our particular place in the world’ New York Times Book Review
‘Extraordinary’ Daily Mail
‘A poignant and eye-opening memoir’ Yomi Adegoke, co-author of Slay in Your Lane
‘A beautiful heart-expanding memoir, truly unforgettable’ Emma Gannon, author of Sabotage
‘At turns revelatory and profound, this memoir sings’ Publishers Weekly
‘A beautifully written account of an extraordinary story, as eye-opening as it is profound’ Otegha Uwagba, author of Little Black Book
‘A jaw-dropping story, told deftly . . . a gripping, thought-provoking book’ Sunday Times
Georgina Lawton was born to two white parents. Despite her brown skin, her racial identity was never spoken of in her childhood home.
The truth only began to emerge when her beloved father died. Fleeing the shattered pieces of her family life, Georgina went in search of answers – a search that took her around the world, to the DNA testing industry and to talk to others whose identities had been questioned or erased.
How do you come to terms with a family history tangled in deceit? And how do you define yourself after a childhood that denied a crucial part of your identity?
A beautifully-written true account of a young woman seeking her own story amid devastating family secrets. For readers of moving, powerful books about family and identity such as My Name is Why by Lemn Sissay and Educated by Tara Westover.
———–
‘Freshly fascinating . . . She writes beautifully about questions of identity and belonging, so central to each of us in finding our particular place in the world’ New York Times Book Review
‘Extraordinary’ Daily Mail
‘A poignant and eye-opening memoir’ Yomi Adegoke, co-author of Slay in Your Lane
‘A beautiful heart-expanding memoir, truly unforgettable’ Emma Gannon, author of Sabotage
‘At turns revelatory and profound, this memoir sings’ Publishers Weekly
‘A beautifully written account of an extraordinary story, as eye-opening as it is profound’ Otegha Uwagba, author of Little Black Book
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Reviews
Lawton builds a strong story around her attainment of emotional balance and her quest for identity and belonging. At turns revelatory and profound, this memoir sings
This is a compelling, incisive and important memoir; both intimate and political
Compelling
A really engaging memoir about identity, race, family, secrets, lies and ultimately betrayal, by a very gifted storyteller
This book is a masterpiece; functioning both as a beautifully-written memoir and sensitive, highly-researched text unpacking the realities of race as a social construct and as a powerful influence on the lives of black people. It is an invaluable read for any person with an interest in race issues in the UK, but especially black and black mixed race people, who so often haven't been given the space to tell their stories. Georgina Lawton is a true talent and while some parts of her story are mired in pain, upon finishing Raceless you'll only be left with optimism for her future as a writer, thinker and commentator
A beautifully written account of an extraordinary story, Raceless is as eye-opening as it is profound
An extraordinary debut
Georgina is such a passionate, engaging writer, and I think Raceless is going to be absolutely huge
Fascinating
Georgina Lawton's Raceless is an absolutely riveting read, not just as a poignant and eye opening memoir but as a nuanced and crucial dissection of race as a construct. She writes so movingly and powerfully about her experiences - I have no doubt this will be one of the books of this year
A jaw-dropping story, told deftly . . . a gripping, thought-provoking book
Heart-rending and poignant . . . Georgina's story is painfully illuminating but a triumphant journey of self-discovery
A beautiful heart-expanding memoir, a truly unforgettable reading experience that will stay with me for a long time
An incredibly moving and honest account of self discovery. I found myself weeping at the ways Georgina described grieving for a parent on top of navigating the realisation that her origin story was vastly different from the story she had been told. It isn't often that you come across a story like hers and with every page it felt as though she was letting us in a little bit deeper. What a stunning debut!
Freshly fascinating. [Lawton] is a particularly astute observer of the psychological dislocation caused by growing up mixed race . . . and she writes beautifully about questions of identity and belonging, so central to each of us in finding our particular place in the world