Top 5 books about dual heritage, chosen by Eva Verde

Author of Lives Like Mine, Eva Verde, selects five books that deal with multiracial identities.

1 Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

Akala pinpoints precisely where race and class intersect, an education within memoir, examining the discomforting racial dynamics of modern Britain.

2Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri

I was already disentangling from my own hair insecurities when I discovered this book, finding comfort in both Dabiri’s mixed perspective and her exquisitely written historical explorations.

3Mixed / Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain by Natalie Morris

Never has a book made me feel more visible. I love Morris’s fluidity about what being mixed means, understanding it’s ever evolving, and claiming her own identity as mixed and Black, which works very well for me too.

4Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch

Having sought my own escape from indoctrinated thought, this book helped me further understand my feelings and my fit within my birthplace. Part-memoir, part-historical, this brilliant book explores the many complexities
of identity and belonging.

5Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This fiction choice revolutionised my thoughts about my own limited knowledge of my ancestry, making me think of all I unknowingly carry. The story strand involving a DNA discovery resonated in such a way my heart wasn’t right for quite some time. This book helped fill the gaps in me.

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