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Motherland

What I’ve Learnt About Parenthood, Race and Identity

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Motherland

By: Priya Joi
Narrated by: Priya Joi
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

What does it mean to be a parent in a space where you are the minority?

Meandering through a supermarket highway of camembert and baguettes, Priya Joi heard a heart-stopping confession about her daughter's identity that made her entire being implode like a dying star. Confronted with the fact that maybe her daughter was not entirely at peace with her appearance, she suddenly had to grapple not only with motherhood but also how to talk to her kid about race and identity.

In M(other)land, Joi writes powerfully about how her personal and cultural identity intersect with motherhood - and how they inform her identity as a (British-Indian) parent and step-parent. The book is her powerful, witty response to the absence of an inclusive, accessible blueprint for navigating life as a multi-faceted mother. By sharing her own story, she writes into this silence and provides a voice of understanding for all those who fall outside of dominant presentations of 'parenthood' and have never seen themselves or their experiences represented.

M(other)land is a crucial book for anyone trying to navigate the complexities of race and motherhood, who has ever felt 'other', who has struggled to reconcile their past or cultural upbringing with how they raise the next generation. Joi passes on hard-won knowledge that has taken years to learn: the complexity of your identity is just who you are - it's okay to be both, neither, or multiple things at once - instead of fighting it, feeling 'neither' is a strength and a state of mind that you can revel in.

'This is the kind of book I wish I had access to as a young mum' Nadiya Hussain

'A beautifully written memoir and a thought-provoking critical intervention into race and motherhood - we can all learn something from this brilliant must-read book' Julia Samuel, leading British psychotherapist and bestselling author

©2023 Priya Joi (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Motherhood Parenting & Families Relationships

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Critic reviews

'A brilliant book not just on parenthood but on what makes us the people we are [...] everyone has something to gain by reading it' (Poorna Bell)
'Priya has written a thought-provoking memoir of being raised between cultures, and how this has impacted her parenting of her daughter' (Devi Sridhar, author of Preventable)

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Everyone should read this!

This book is incredibly moving, insightful, uplifting and heartbreaking. As a white British woman I felt so upset and angry at the racism that has and still plagues non-white people in the U.K Everyone, no matter what colour should read this book and realise the daily lived experience of one woman and her family and how she has navigated that for herself - and how she wants to support her daughter in European countries where discrimination is sadly still rife. I hope this review doesn’t make it sound like a heavy read - it isn’t - I laughed, gasped and shed a tear - I highly recommend that you just read it!

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