This story covers 3 women who are connected via friendships and family. The book is set up with each section focusing on one of the characters. Due to this initially it was hard to figure out the connection and I originally thought this was 3 short stories, however as I read through it. The first story centers on a middle aged Black woman in a loveless marriage who visits back room parlors to feed her gambling addiction. The second story follows a woman who is suffering from severe postpartum depression. Her husband is inattentive and drowns himself in his work, not seeing that his wife is suffering and his children are in danger. The third story follows a woman with a sick mother who is visiting her grandmother. She is just trying to understand her place in her family while also discovering her “gifts” that may have been passed down in the family.

Initially i didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the book, but the more I read the more interesting it became, The stories were very different and while the characters are connected it really doesn’t have any bearing on the story.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick. Our library purchased and our patrons have been checking out and and enjoying the book. I see it is a popular book club choice as well we hope to have more oppurtinies to support authors like them

The Autobiography of Skin" is a thought-provoking and enlightening exploration of identity, highlighting the profound influence that skin can have on one's experiences and interactions with the world. It encourages readers to reflect on their own perceptions and biases, fostering empathy and understanding.

The memoir delves into the author's experiences growing up and navigating the complexities of race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage. It offers poignant reflections on the impact society's perceptions and prejudices have had on their sense of self and belonging.

It's important to note that while the book addresses sensitive and complex themes, it may contain content that some readers may find distressing or triggering. However, the author's candid and courageous storytelling serves as a catalyst for meaningful discussions on race, identity, and the human experience.

Lakiesha Carr brings into a stark yet subtle look at the lives of three very different women and their struggles and most private thoughts and fears. Three different and separate stories exploring each woman at a different stage in life. Each woman's inner thoughts are shared and that part of the book is moving and heartbreaking. As a mother, the story of the young mother dealing not only postpartum but the real fear for her young black sons growing up in a hostile world. The book explores not only the fear of each but also the strong binds of family and community.
Don't expect each experience to be wrapped up nicely with a bow. Life doesn't work that way, especially for these women. And I was okay with that. What fell short for me was the third story. I understand it was a bit more spiritual perhaps, but it was also very confusing with a whole host of women. I found myself a bit lost.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this in advance in return for an unbiased review.

This was a series of stories about a family of Black women and their relationships with themselves, others and each other. There are traumas and loves, pains and joys. Some of their pain, trauma, loves joys, opportunities, and limitations are caused by their skin color, the way they are perceived and the way they anticipate they are perceived. Some of their lives have been molded by their skin and their ancestor's skin color.

It took me longer to read this than I would have liked. It took longer because some of the stories I had difficulty getting "into" and others that I flew through but had to put the book aside for travel and work reasons.

I did not mind that these were three stories that as a whole related. What I did mind, was how uninteresting they were.

I admire the techniques that Carr attempted to use in her writing but they weren't executed well.

A let down overall.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Pantheon for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut novel by Lakiesha Carr - 4 stars!

A middle-aged woman feed slots at a secret, back-room parlor. A new mother descends into a devastating postpartum depression, wracked with the fear that she is unable to protect her children. A daughter returns home to join the other women in her family waging spiritual combat with the ghosts of their past.

These three stories explore Black womanhood in a very intimate, raw, and powerful way. I loved the first two stories and especially the second, while the third seemed a bit too long and I was confused about the characters (but that may just have been me!). But oh that second story - a new mother scared for her two small boys in a world that is not very kind to Black boys. Combine that with postpartum depression and you have such a real, scary world. Anxious to read more from this author!

One thing about me is that if a book says it's about generations of Black women... I will be reading it.

An Autobiography of Skin is essentially a set of three separate (but somewhat interconnected) novellas. I didn't realize this going into it and I think I would have felt differently about the book if I had.

You know when you are in the beginning of a story and getting to know the characters and just getting more and more amped up for the climax (or even just for learning more about the characters if it's not plot driven)? I was expecting to spend a long time with the characters I began the story with, so I felt unfulfilled and disappointed when each story ended.

The first story was about a middle aged woman with a bit of a gambling addiction. I thought this character was so captivating - even when she wasn't doing anything special. I love seeing older women as protagonists because I feel like it's something that isn't done often enough. I thought the pacing was great and overall I really enjoyed this one.

The second story was absolutely my favorite. It was about a woman suffering from postpartum depression. It was heartbreaking and shocking and tender and a devastating picture of being a Black mother having to worry about your Black children in a racist world. I would've loved more of this story, but I also really enjoyed it for what it was and don't feel like the length negatively impacted my experience reading it.

Now the third story... I did not like. I was very close to DNFing. It was twice as long as the first two stories and it felt lackluster to me. I was SO confused the whole time about who was who (there were some references to characters in past stories so it was difficult to find the connections in my opinion). This story also had many characters which was quite a shift from the first two which really only focused on one or two. I'm not sure I can pinpoint what didn't quite work for me on the last one, but it negatively impacted my view of the book as a whole.

The first two stories I truly enjoyed and would recommend as novellas, the third just didn't seem to fit in at all.

*Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is three different stories in one. Each one telling a story about Black women, one with a gambling/alcohol problem, one struggling with severe postpartum depression, and one seeing ghosts. I enjoyed each story individually, though I felt the last story dragged a bit. It was a little slow paced for me. I would still recommend to other readers, as the storylines and character development were great. I think someone who prefers a slower paced book may enjoy it.

The book was okay to me, it took me longer than I expected to finish. The book is broken into three parts and I thought that was a good touch. The writing was good, the storytelling was okay to me. The author was very descriptive with the scenes, I could picture the things as they happened. I just don’t think this book was for me.

This book is interesting in that it’s split into three parts, like three separate novellas. The first part felt almost too short? I felt like we didn’t get enough time with those characters. The second part was heartbreaking, a really powerful story. And the last part, which was the longest I think, was so messy and different from the first two it didn’t even feel like the same book?

The writing of the first two novellas was amazing. But the third one kept switching character POV, sometimes mid paragraph, the first part of the novella felt different from the ending that seemed totally out of nowhere?

I also was expecting all the novellas to connect in some way, but I only caught the connection between the first and third, I’m not sure I caught if there was a tie to the second. I had a hard time staying focused on the third novella, unfortunately.

Overall, I was really enjoying this book until I got to the third novella, and then it lost me. The first and second are definitely worth the read though, those were really well done.

This was another heavy read looking into the lives of black women and their grief. Told in three novellas, the stories are well written and very relatable.

Title: An Autobiography of Skin
Author: Lakiesha Carr
Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor, Pantheon
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"An Autobiography" by Lakiesha Carr

My Sentiments:

''An Autobiography of Skin" was a delightful story of three short stories set in Texas, about Nettie during the civil rights movement,... her life; then on to Maya's story was of motherhood, postpartum, and depression, with the last story, was a little out there as it focused on reading minds and fighting ghosts. However, the three stories were of '3 black women in the south who faced various struggles in their life that dealt with 'Black women whose lives were haunted, not happy stories, dealing with families, Black killings, religions, drugs, alcohol, relationships with men, their connections, friendship, love sorrow, joy, and family.' It was interesting how well this author was about putting these three stunning stories together.

Be ready for a thought-provoking read that will give one much to think about long after the read.


Thank you, NetGalley, for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’d heard a lot of good things about this book before I read it - even Dawnie Walton (author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev) said it was powerful and illuminating. In fact, it’s gotten pretty rave reviews all around. So, why did I wind up DNFing at 75%? I blame my mood reading tendencies more than anything, and I’m definitely going to try to return to this book again in the future. Here’s why:

To me, the book flowed more like a series of vignettes rather than following a severely structured plot. Something about this style made me feel deeply connected with the characters and their inner voices. Each alternative perspective built upon the last. The honesty with which each women’s story is told is raw and bracing. It bites into the thick of reality, leaving the impression of its teeth, and reminding you what a skin-shredding place society and family and other people can be.

Essentially, An Autobiography of Skin is about the interconnected generations of a Black women, moving from a woman who feeds a slot machine in a convenience store’s secret back room to a woman suffering from a devastating post-partum depression. The blending of these women’s stories and many others creates a cadence and rhythm that carries you through the book, exploring new experiences and perspectives with every change in view point.

While I read this book, I felt like I was examining an intimate portrait of someone else’s very lived reality. I was made aware of how pain, trauma, bitterness, love, and so many other emotions are stored within the body and how they paint a picture on our skin for other to see, but not always to understand.

I felt like this book was saying a lot that was going over my head. I wasn’t in the best mood for something so impactful, so I decided to put this book off for another time, a time where I can better understand and process everything. I expect my final star rating will be higher.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon for my arc of this book.

This is my first time reading a book by this author and it was not a good read for me. It turns out there are 3 stories written separately. Sorry to say each story was a struggle to read and keep my interest.
I voluntarily received an ARC from NetGalley and this review is of my own honest opinion and thoughts.

Three novellas, each presenting a wholly sympathetic female protagonist, which provides an inside view of contemporary issues facing African American women and their inner lives and the effects of primarily grief driven outside influences. While there are splashes of humor, for the most part the reader can't help but harbor a deep empathy for each woman.

An autobiography of life. Of trials. Of relationships. Of triumph’s. Of acceptance. It’s an interesting take on 3 Black women’s relationship with themselves really. How they manage thru rejection from loved ones & for one her own body. Read separately & then woven together it’s a sad yet realistic picture.

An Autobiography of Skin by Lakiesha Carr

Published: February 28, 2023
Pantheon
Pages: 256
Genre: Romance Literary Fiction
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Lakeisha Carr graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and received her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was awarded a Maytag Fellowship for Excellence in Fiction and a Jeff and Vicki Edwards Post-graduate Fellowship in Fiction. A journalist and writer from East Texas, she has held various editorial and production positions with CNN, The New York Times, and other media. Her writing has received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, the DC Commission on Arts & Humanities for nonfiction writing, and the Kimbilio Fellowship for fiction writing.

“Because the romance remained.”

This is a family story. And how family can be the cement that holds you together and the cement that kills you.

These women are strong, they are wise, and they are aware. This was a glimpse into what family can be and mean and the way history can weigh on a person.

This was beautifully written and well presented. These stories moved me and the way love was represented in all forms.

This is a powerful tale of how strong a community can be and how the family takes care of their own. These women were all instrumental to this story, and their presence was powerful.

This book takes you into the inner lives of black women in the south. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It was basically 3 novellas. The first two were great but the third didn’t work for me.

This is more a book of short stories than a novel. The characters are very much alive (excepting Uncle Sonny, of course), and these stories take you through their lives, which are vastly different but connected.. The second story with Maya breaks your heart but shows how broken the the system is for moms in distress. I think that one will stay with me. I got lost a little in the first and third stories. As a book should, it gives one a feel for lives other than the one they’re given. It creates a bigger view of one’s world.
I was given a copy of this book from the publisher for my review.