Home Bound, Vanessa A. Bee
Home Bound, Vanessa A. Bee
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Home Bound
An Uprooted Daughter's Reflections on Belonging

Author: Vanessa A. Bee

Narrator: Vanessa A. Bee, Sean Crisden

Unabridged: 10 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 11/08/2022

Synopsis

In this memoir of identity and discovery, Vanessa A. Bee explores the way we define "home" and "belonging"—from her birth in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to her adoption, to experiencing housing insecurity in Europe and her eventual immigration to the US. After her parents' divorce, Vanessa traveled with her mother to Lyon and later to London, eventually settling in Reno, Nevada, as a teenager, right around the financial crisis and the collapse of the housing market. At twenty, still a practicing evangelical Christian and newly married, Vanessa applied to and was accepted by Harvard Law School, where she was one of the youngest members of her class. There, she forged a new belief system, divorced her husband, left the church, and pursued a career in economic justice upon graduation.

Vanessa's upbringing has caused her to grapple for years with foundational questions such as: What is home? Is it the country we're born in, the body we possess, or the name we were given and that identifies us? Is it the house we remember most fondly, the social status assigned to us, or the ideology we forge? What defines us and makes us uniquely who we are?

Vanessa tackles these timeless questions thematically and unpacks the many layers that contribute to and condition our understanding of ourselves and of our place in the world.

About Vanessa A. Bee

Vanessa A. Bee is a consumer protection lawyer and essayist. Born in Cameroon, she grew up in France, England, and the United States. Vanessa holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada and a law degree from Harvard. She lives in Washington, DC.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Susan's Reviews

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this memoir in exchange for an honest review. Let me start off by confessing that I am not a huge fan of memoirs, but the advance reviews were very appreciative and supportive so I decided to check it out for myself! The writing style ofte......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth

I will preface this by saying I am having the hardest time writing this review because I loved this book so much. Here goes: In her experimental memoir HOME BOUND, Vanessa A. Bee traces her complex trajectory across oceans, borders, identities, faith, and ideology through a series of essays centered......more

Goodreads review by Letitia

HOMEBOUND is Vanessa A. Bee’s memoir about her journey finding her identity and home as a Cameroonian adopted by her aunt and her white French husband living in Europe and eventually the United States. She reflects on her path to belonging, navigating complicated familial relationships, her religion......more

Goodreads review by Samuel

This debut book is the story of a woman's journey from Cameroon to working class, rural France to London to Reno, Nevada to being the youngest student in her class at Harvard Law School. That said, it bucks any of the stereotypes you may have about what such a book consists of. It's one of the most......more

Goodreads review by Tom

Have long thought Bee is among the greatest essayists of her generation, and "Home Bound" confirms it. I spent much of the book wondering where it was all going – or if it was even going anywhere – then Bee knocked it out of the park with one of the best closing paragraphs I’ve read in years. It’s b......more

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