Susan Straight (In the Country of Women) and Emily Bernard (Black is the Body) at Greenlight Bookstore

Summary

Two highly celebrated authors tell the story of race and gender in America through their exquisitely written memoirs. Award-winning author Susan Straight’s memoir, In the Country of Women, is a valuable social history and a personal narrative that reads like a love song to America and indomitable women. Straight writes of the hardships and resilience of her daughters’ female ancestors, and celebrates the community that helped raise her daughters. Acclaimed editor of Remember Me to Harlem, Emily Bernard, presents her memoir Black is the Body. In this collection of essays, she explores how each of the essays goes beyond a narrative of black innocence and white guilt, how each is anchored in a mystery, and how each sets out to discover a new way of telling the truth as the author has lived it. A reception follows to celebrate both of these books.