Zami

Zami is my June book recommended by a friend. Thanks, Jordan! (Do you even remember recommending this book to me??) Zami sat on my to-read list for a long time, always on hold and whenever my digital copy would be available I'd be in the middle of something else and go to the back of the line! I'm really glad I got around to reading it.

Zami reads essentially as an autobiography of Audre Lorde's childhood and early adulthood in the 1940s and 50s. (She calls it a biomythography - combining history, biography, and myth.) The book follows through her childhood with immigrant parents in Harlem, through Catholic school and WWII, a brief exploration of Mexico and then finding her place as an adult back in New York. There is direct exploration of race, sexuality and gender in honest and touching ways.

But most of all, this is a story about women. (In this way it reminds me of The Red Tent.) Difficult, real, and tender relationships with her mother, sisters, friends and partners. And because it is Audre Lorde, the prose is lyrical. A lovely read.