Book description
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly
The hilarious, uncompromising novel about African American domestic workersâfrom a trailblazer in Black womenâs literature and now featuring a foreword by Roxane Gay
First published in Paul Robesonâs newspaper, Freedom, and composed of a series of conversations between Mildred, a black domestic, and her friendâŚ
Why read it?
1 author picked Like One of the Family as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Childressâs novel is a compilation of short pieces originally published serially in two different Black-owned newspapers. In each story, Mildred, a Black domestic worker in New York City, recounts to her friend, Marge, the humorous, infuriating, and all too familiar experiences of working for various white families across the city. She also describes her refusal to remain silent in the face of white employersâ micro-aggressions, outright venom, and fantasies that sheâs their loving mammy. Childressâs stories were a powerful salve to the Black household workers and others who first read them in a newspaper. Most of them daily confronted similarâŚ
From Micki's list on The best books that are antidotes to the unrelenting poison of âAunt Jemimaâ.
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