I really wanted to like this book wholeheartedly: the premise had so much promise. Maybe creating high expectations was the problem.
Nettie’s story begins strongly, but then falls flat. Okay, Maya’s story about motherhood and postpartum depression definitely hits close to home, but then again, the way the author chose to tell it makes the story detached and unemotional. The third and last story that connects all the others, starts in a promising note but then the omniscient narrator becomes first person that…reads minds and fights ghosts? Confusion and lack of coherence turns the book into something unexplainable.
Unfortunately I only finished to be able to review it and not because the storyline gripped me.

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

Essay like reading of 3 stories of 3 Black women in the south facing various struggles. The second story was hard to get into.

’Some women wait for themselves around the next corner and call the empty spot peace but the opposite of living is only not living and the stars do not care.’ –Audre Lorde

A beautifully written, if often disturbing, debut. A glimpse into the lives of Black women whose lives are haunted /impacted by family, religion, drugs, alcohol and their relationships with men, and family. Set in Texas, this is a story of family - how they can heal, as well as destroy one another. Their stories are not happy ones, although there are lighter moments. There is beauty, an occasional tenderness, but this is not a light and fluffy story.

Nettie’s story is shared as this begins, a woman who is the daughter of parents who were part of the civil rights movement, and married to a man who seems almost like a ghost in her life. They live their lives in the same house, but are like ships passing in the night. She escapes to spend her time drinking and gambling, and is careless. She shares her thoughts with Peaches, her friend, on a regular basis, as they talk on the phone most nights.

Maya’s story follows Nettie’s, a woman who is told by a doctor that she is not physically equipped to bear children. Her mother offers her advice on how ‘the Goddess’ will help her, her grandmama offers her advice to pray and read Psalms 91, and place her bible under her pillow. Maya goes on to have two baby boys, both born prematurely, a year apart. She is obsessed by the endless news reports of Black people being killed by police, and now worries about her children growing up in this environment. Her obsession worsens, and mentally she begins to unravel.

Katinah, Maya’s friend, shares her story which pulls their stories together in the third and last section. Katinah sees ghosts, as does her grandmother, Mama Eloise, who cautions Katinah about how she is living her life.

A glimpse at the lives of these Black women, their connections, friendship, love, longing, sorrow, vulnerability and joy.


Pub Date: 28 Feb 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor / Pantheon

A powerful read! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this but it definitely moved me.

I received an E-ARC through NetGalley.

I appreciated how the three stories all came together. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I connected the most with Maya's story. I am not a mother but I know what it feels like to be trapped in my own mind afraid of the world around me unable to protect those I love. This book was beautifully written and truly captivated my attention. The stories told were stunning and will have you reflecting deeply back on your own life. 100% would recommend and look forward to discussing it with upcoming book clubs once the book is fully released.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book. I was drawn in by the idea of the book. Unfortunately, it pains me to say that I actually hate this book. It comes across as fake deep, with incomplete stories. The 2nd story made the most sense to me as a mother but the writing falls flat even here. I would not recommend this book at all.

An Autobiography of Skin by Lakiesha Carr is a moving and deeply insightful novel.
The writing is excellent and the characterizations are superbly done.
An incredible, thought provoking and such an realistic piece of work here.
Well written, perfectly developed book that I enjoyed tremendously.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon for the ebook. A beautiful and insightful first novel that lets us follow three different black women who are slightly connected to each other. The first, Miss Nettie, gives colonics in her house so she can gamble at the underground slot machine parlor. The second shows a young mother of two boys, whose husband has made it off the streets to producing porn, and is just as ashamed as he was of his earlier career, even though this brings in legal riches, is struggling with depression and takes an unhealthy obsession about what is happening to black boys and the police and the unhealthy remedy she comes up with to protect her boys. The third is about a daughter who rattles around a large house, which her uncle bought after an accident claim was settled, as she and the older women of her family try and rid themselves of a man from the past, now a ghost, refuses to leave them alone. These stories are deep cuts, but always told with great heart and ready humor.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. This book takes you deep into the inner lives of some black women in the South. As a white middle class woman, this can feel like being plunged into the deepest freezing ocean and it is very uncomfortable to be immersed in the narrative at times, but it's important to read about lives other than our own. The beauty of even the hard moments comes through in the writing. The struggle to be alive and to be in our own bodies and minds no matter our socioeconomic status or the color of our skin.