Mother Country, Charlie BrinkhurstCuff
Mother Country, Charlie BrinkhurstCuff
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Synopsis

***LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 JHALAK PRIZE***

A leading new exploration of the Windrush generation featuring David Lammy, Lenny Henry, Corinne Bailey Rae, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Hannah Lowe, Jamz Supernova, Natasha Gordon and Rikki Beadle-Blair.

For the pioneers of the Windrush generation, Britain was 'the Mother Country'. They made the long journey across the sea, expecting to find a place where they would be be welcomed with open arms; a land in which you were free to build a new life, eight thousand miles away from home.

This remarkable book explores the reality of their experiences, and those of their children and grandchildren, through 22 unique real-life stories spanning more than 70 years.

"The story of Windrush, is, like any other, a story of humanity. Of life, love, struggle, hope, misery, success and failure. It's one that is too often neglected in our media ... but this volume acts as a remedy to that failure of story-telling, which I ask you to both savour and share."
- David Lammy MP

Contributors include: Catherine Ross, Corinne Bailey-Rae, David Lammy, Gail Lewis, Hannah Lowe, Howard Gardner, Jamz Supernova, Kay Montano, Kemi Alemoru, Kimberley McIntosh, Lazare Sylvestre, Lenny Henry, Maria del Pilar Kaladeen, Myrna Simpson, Naomi Oppenheim, Natasha Gordon, Nellie Brown, Paul Reid, Riaz Phillips, Rikki Beadle-Blair, Sharmaine Lovegrove, Sharon Frazer-Carroll.

About Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff

Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff is an award-winning writer, editor and columnist of Jamaican-Cuban heritage, who focuses on issues surrounding race, feminism, social justice and media. She is the deputy editor of gal-dem, a magazine written and produced exclusively by women of colour and non-binary people of colour aiming to diversify the journalism landscape, and contributes to publications including the Guardian, iPaper and Dazed.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Karris on June 05, 2020

I cried lots of times reading this with out really knowing why. Just knowing that I felt seen and heard. That these stories made me miss my grandma, it made me wish I’d asked her so much more, that I had recorded her voice when she told me stories. So I could remember what she told me and the way he......more

Goodreads review by L on October 26, 2018

I've read numerous pieces of Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff's writings in various publications so was keen to read this. Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for providing me with a review copy. This book is a wonderful collection of the stories of the families of the Windrush generation. The Windrush issue is......more

Goodreads review by Karen on November 08, 2018

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. An exploration of the Windrush generation featuring David Lammy, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Sharmaine Lovegrove, along with many others. For the Windrush generation and those who came before, Britain was ‘the Mo......more

Goodreads review by Ruth on December 02, 2020

I listened to this book on Audible. Each story in the book is narrated by different voice which added to the authenticity and character of each story. I enjoyed this book because I both learned historical facts I didn't know and because it swept me away into far away places and past decades. The nar......more

Goodreads review by Rania on December 18, 2020

A stunning example of why the personal stories of Immigrants need to be documented for future generations and to provide an alternative voice against those who "write the dominant narratives" of history.......more