I received a free copy of Real American: A Memoir in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Book “Real American: A Memoir”

By Julie Lythcott-Haims

Lythcott-Haims (How to Raise an Adult) has written a bold, impassioned memoir that explores the emotional and cultural divide imposed by American racism on people of mixed race. Born in 1967 to an African-American father and a white British mother, she was proud that her parents “broke the rules” despite the racial sneers and ridicule she experienced growing up in Palisades, N.Y., and Madison, Wis.

However, the steadfast support of her loving mother and of her father, an accomplished physician appointed by President Carter as assistant surgeon general in 1977, couldn’t prepare the insecure, mixed-race teen for navigating a white world (“I don’t think of you as Black. I think of you as normal,” says one high school friend while the two were watching Gone with the Wind).

Upon graduating from Stanford University (she would serve as dean of freshmen there years later), Lythcott-Haims married a white Jewish man and gave birth to “quadroon children,” which further complicated her quest for self-understanding. Later, she became empowered through her determination not to let hate define her or the lives of her children.

Riveting and deeply felt, Lythcott-Haims’s memoir sheds fresh light on race and discrimination in American society.

This book is a story told from a woman who struggles to identify with one particular race as an American. She was born to an African American father (who becomes appointed in the Carter administration as an assistant to the Surgeon General) and a British teacher. She grew up realizing she was different but not really understanding why. Honestly, I am not a biography or memoir fan so I will say I struggled with this book. I do feel the author did a great job writing to make you want to keep reading about her story and feelings but it just wasn’t a book I could get into. I really wanted to understand how life was for her but I struggled to relate. I never really felt I didn’t fit in and the few times I didn’t, it didn’t bother me.

I do think this book does have an audience though and so many great lessons in it. So many feel lost and confused, especially here in the melting pot of America. The story is told from the author’s perspective and has a conversational tone to it which made it easy to read, I just lost interest. She does seem like a remarkable woman and someone who has grown to accept who she is.

BUY IT:  Check out the book “Real American: A Memoir” for yourself.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.