Book cover of Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir

Book description

An Esquire Best Book of 2021

A stirring and powerful memoir from black cultural critic Rebecca Carroll recounting her painful struggle to overcome a completely white childhood in order to forge her identity as a black woman in America.

Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Surviving the White Gaze as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The writing is gorgeous, but it is the story – heartbreaking at first and then, as it closes, heartwarming – that grabs you.

Rebecca Carroll, marked as black, is adopted by white parents and raised in an all-white town. Determined to learn more about herself, she sets out to reconnect with her birth parents, but what she learns is a set of hard, painful truths. As the thread slowly unspools, her white birth mother is also revealed as abusive and controlling.

Still searching for a sense of who she is, Carroll discovers her own blackness through found family, and by…

If you love Surviving the White Gaze...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Want books like Surviving the White Gaze?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Surviving the White Gaze.

Browse books like Surviving the White Gaze

Book cover of The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption
Book cover of All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir
Book cover of Jesus Land: A Memoir

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,276

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Surviving the White Gaze, you might also like...

Book cover of My Book Boyfriend

My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos,

Lily loves her community garden. Rupert wants to bulldoze it. When feelings grow, will they blossom or turn to rubble?

"It literally had everything! - Bookworm Characters - Humor - Banter - Swoon-worthy lines."  - Book Reviewer.

Book cover of Everyday Medical Miracles: True Stories from the Frontlines in Women’s Health Care

Everyday Medical Miracles by Joseph S. Sanfilippo (editor),

Frontiers of Women from the healthcare perspective. A compilation of 60 true short stories written by an extensive array of healthcare providers, physicians, and advanced practice providers.

All designed to give you, the reader, a glimpse into the day-to-day activities of all of us who provide your health care. Come…

5 book lists we think you will like!