“Thank you for writing this book. It’s a great book.”

—Terry Gross, NPR’s Fresh Air

“A rich and heartwarming memoir… We need more stories like Fannie’s — the triumph and good life of a lucky black woman in a deeply corrupt world.”

—Kaitlyn Greenidge, The New York Times Book Review

“Davis’s beautiful prose turns a tale of perseverance into a love story.”

–Joan Gaylord, Christian Science Monitor

“The story of Fannie Davis, as her daughter so thoroughly tells it, is the story of not just one woman, in one city, at one period in time; it is, in many ways, the story of black America, the resilience and solidarity of the marginalized.”

―Entertainment Weekly

“Every once in a while, a book comes along that shows the magic, the kindness, the outstanding humanity of a black America that so few now remember…a fabulously written memoir.”

—James McBride, author of The Color of Water, winner of the National Book Award, and recipient of the National Humanities Medal

“A triumphant tale of female empowerment…Bridgett Davis’s love letter to her mother lights a bold new path, because sometimes leaning in is not enough.”

—Tayari Jones, bestselling author of An American Marriage

“A timely, intriguing and well-told story of what it means to come of age during a time when people found so many amazing ways to survive… at once amazingly specific and trail blazingly universal. I couldn’t put this book down.”

—Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the National Book Award and author of Brown Girl Dreaming and Another Brooklyn