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My Name Is Why

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My Name Is Why

Written by: Lemn Sissay
Narrated by: Lemn Sissay, Richard Burnip, Zoe Mills
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THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, DAILY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, NEW STATESMAN, METRO, DAILY MAIL, SUNDAY EXPRESS and HERALD

‘A quest for understanding, for home, for answers’ Matt Haig

How does a government steal a child and then imprison him? How does it keep it a secret? This story is how.

At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth.

This is Lemn's story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph.

Sissay reflects on his childhood, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

 Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences Discrimination Inspiring
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What the critics say

"A lyrical, painful and yet hope-filled memoir . . . Shattering, light-searching"
"Searing . . . Unputdownable . . . My Name Is Why is authentic and beautiful, a potential game-changer in public attitudes to children raised in care. It’s about bureaucratic cruelty and what happens when love is absent. Don’t miss it"
"An extraordinary story"
"The most amazing thing about this book is that it’s not made up. This actually happened. It is an incredible story" (BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH)
"I have never read a memoir like it. A blistering account of a young life in the hands of neglectful authorities. It’s a quest for understanding, for home, for answers. Grips like a thriller. Astounding" (MATT HAIG)
"The great triumph of this work comes from its author’s determination to rail against what he rightly diagnoses as this institutionally endorsed disremembering of black and marginalised experience. It is a searing and unforgettable re-creation of the most brutal of beginnings" (Michael Donkor)
"Utterly devastating and beautiful . . . Breathtakingly written" (DOLLY ALDERTON)
"This is a deeply moving memoir that speaks with incredible poeticism. A staggering exposé of colonial theft and abandonment, this book is grippingly heartbreaking" (DAVID LAMMY)
"A fascinating memoir . . . So powerful" (ELIF SHAFAK)
"The engaging transfiguring truth of My Name Is Why is like a baptism of truth – leaving you washed clean of lies and reborn in love. Profound in its kindness, intelligence and unselfish heart, this book is important and unputdownable" (JESSICA HYNES)
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Vivid and disturbing insights into the British foster care system in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It reflects Lemn Sissay’s incredible sense of character and survival, that he made it through, not only in one piece, but excelled in his field, after all those social and economic barriers.

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