Color Blind cover art

Color Blind

A Memoir

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Color Blind

By: Precious Williams
Narrated by: Dale Allen
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About this listen

Born in Africa to a Nigerian princess, Precious Williams was less than one year old when her mother put an ad in Nursery World: "Pretty Nigerian baby girl needs new home." Precious's mother had flown to London in search of a new life - a life in which there was no space for a daughter. The first response came rom a 60-year-old white woman, Nan, who prided herself for being "color blind." Correspondence were exchanged, no questions asked, and Precious left her mother for Nan's home in rural England.

Nan may have been color blind, but others in their small town were not. Precious grew up in an entirely white household, attending all-white schools, where she remained for her entire childhood. She was taunted by her peers and misunderstood by Nan. Precious's mother occasionally made fleeting, magical visits until she was nine, but would often critisize her for being "too white."

Finding it impossible to relate to any family members - biological or surragoate - she became disillusioned and self-destructive. She retreated to her imagination, forging an identity from characters she'd seen on TV, in movies, and read about in books.

Color Blind is a powerful coming-of-age memoir exploring themes of motherhood and race.

©2010 Precious Williams (P)2013 Audible, Inc. Cultural & Regional Parenting & Families Relationships
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I absolutely loved the story as I had a similar experience as a foster kid in the 60s & 70s and I could really relate to the author. However, this story (and mine) is set in the UK so why is there an American narrator who mispronounced place names like 'South Wark' and gave the word 'innit' a question mark every time she used it. I had to keep reminding
myself that the story was not set in the US. A narrator familiar with the slang and vernacular
of the U.K./Nigeria would have been better. The author is a great story teller but the narration was distracting.

Disappointing performance

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I listened to this book whilst walking my dog. I had no idea about the ‘trend’ of African babies being put into private, unregulated, foster care with white families as their parents built a new life in a new country. Written with brutal honesty this is not necessarily an easy listen; but it’s extremely worthwhile. Precious Williams writes beautifully and seems to have survived her difficult upbringing. My heart ached for young Precious, some of the racism she endured, as well as the sexual abuse, made uncomfortable listening. But sadly was also all too familiar to me as a white teenager of the 70s. Really recommend this title.

My only caveat is the narration. Dale Allen read well, clear diction etc. However as an American Dale failed to create the right atmosphere for this emotionally draining read. Repeated mispronunciations of English English words such as Ribena grated somewhat (also ‘crèche’). This particular book would have been far more enjoyable had it been narrated by a Brit familiar with the era and the syntax of Received Pronunciation- especially as that is one of the key reasons for fostering Precious with a well spoken white family; the desire for her daughter to ‘sound’ white was seemingly overwhelming for Precious’ mother.

Excellent, uncomfortable, recommended

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An incredibly written book. Describing with breathtaking wit the loss, identity crisis, racial landscape in the UK, self esteem and self hated issues in Trans Racial Adoption and Fostering. A recommended read for WAP /anyone considering TRA in the UK today. Will resonate with POCs brought up in predominantly white environments. Absolutely captivating, brutally honest and a gift for anyone struggling to articulate what growing up ‘other’ in white environments in Britain in the 70-90s was like. This voice is important.

Holding my breath to the end - beautiful, harrowing, resilient

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