Description
Book SynopsisA story of migration, identity and belonging, drawing on the stories of people from Audrey Osler''s mixed-heritage family, over three centuries.
Whether or not we trace our families from beyond the shores of Britain, we British people deserve a better understanding of our shared past, and opportunities to explore and recognise the complexities and contractions of empire.
Careless or wilful amnesia has allowed the British migration narrative to begin in the mid-twentieth century, with migrants from India, Pakistan and the Caribbean forming the foundation of present-day multicultural Britain. A racist fixation means that some twenty-first-century Britons fantasise that people of colour arrived after World War Two, without any link to the country, to exploit the British welfare state and British hospitality.
For people of colour the questions, Where are you from? No, where are you really from? often imply more than simple curiosity. They are politic
Trade Review
Lovely, perceptive and timely... weaving the threads of colonialism, migration, mixed-race relationships and other life experiences into the tapestry of Britishness today, it is wonderful * Yasmin Alibhai-Brown *
The power is in the gentle, almost lyrically intimate force of the tale and its many messages, so courageously put, with generosity. Timely, affecting, and so darn necessary at this moment. Thank you, Audrey Osler, I say * Philippe Sands *
