The Grace of Silence

A Memoir

By: Michele Norris

Narrated by: Michele Norris

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

In the wake of talk of a “post-racial America” upon the ascendance of Barack Obama as president of the United States, Michele Norris, host of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, set out, through original reporting, to write a book about “the hidden conversation on race” that is going on in this country. But along the way she unearthed painful family secrets - from her father’s shooting by the Birmingham police within weeks of his discharge from service in World War II to her grandmother’s peddling pancake mix as an itinerant Aunt Jemima.

In what became an intensely personal and bracing journey, Norris traveled from her childhood home in Minneapolis to her ancestral roots in the Deep South to explore “things left unsaid” by her family when she was growing up. Along the way she discovers how character is forged by both repression and revelation. She learns how silence became a form of self-protection and a means of survival for her parents - strivers determined to create a better life for their children at a time when America was beginning to experiment with racial equality - as it was for white Americans who grew up enforcing strict segregation (sometimes through violence) but who now live in a world where integration is the norm.

Extraordinary for Norris’s candor in examining her own complex racial legacy, The Grace of Silence is also informed by hundreds of interviews with ordinary Americans and wise observations about evolving attitudes toward race in America. It is concerned with assessing the truth of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s assertion that, vis-à-vis race, ours is a nation of cowards, for often what is left unsaid is more important than what is openly discussed.

©2010 Michele Norris (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“History at its best is about telling stories - stories about people who lived before, about events in the past that create the contours of the present…In the hands of a gifted storyteller, a memoir becomes more than a chronicle of the writer’s life. It becomes the history of a time and a place. So it is with this magnificent memoir - one of the most eloquent, moving and insightful memoirs I have ever read.” (Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian)

“A riveting, inspiring memoir of an at once singular and representative American family. Norris takes us on a painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. She relies on her formidable skills as an investigative reporter to unearth shocking family secrets.... Powerful and tender, The Grace of Silence reveals our human complexity in exemplary fashion.” (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., University Professor and Director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University, and author of Colored People)

“In this exquisite memoir, Michele Norris turns her formidable powers of interviewing and storytelling onto her toughest subjects: herself, her family, and this country’s scar tissue. What follows is a journey of discovery into some of the darkest corners and brightest stars of the greatest generation. The Grace of Silence is sometimes raw, often gripping, and always graceful. A remarkably moving and enriching experience.” (Richard Wolffe, author of New York Times bestseller Renegade: The Making of a President)

History of Blacks in the Military

I’m not sure how I ended up with a book written 14 years ago. Things in terms of race have certainly changed and not for the better. However as a retired military officer, I can certainly appreciate all of the military history that was included even though it was painful to hear. I’m in my 60s and only now starting to understand how much our ancestors left unsaid. I guess it was just too painful.

A wonderful memoir from Michele Norris

Michele's tone and cadence are soothing although the story is at times difficult to hear or painful. Her descriptions provide vivid pictures of her experiences and those of her family. Her family memoir is a captivating read/ listen. I am grateful she shared it. Cheers to the Norris family!

the untold stories; Family

I truly appreciated the history lesson, as she explored her parents background and more importantly asking the tough questions of family, which often times isn't an task.
the heartbreak & suffering they endured, simply because, "that's just the way it was back then" is often times, a tough statement to hear.

thank you for taking me, the reader on that journey.

Very revealing look at race in America

I've always enjoyed listening to Michele Norris on NPR's All Things Considered.

After I heard her speak at a recent event for librarians, I decided that I needed to read this book.

Norris decided to write her story after doing a series of interviews with people in York Pennsylvania during President Obama's campaign for office. I remember those interviews about race in American, and this book helped open my eyes even further to the problems in America, both historically and now.

Definitely recommended.

Just OK

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It was ok, I had a hard time getting through it, had to keep coming back just to finish it.

Has The Grace of Silence turned you off from other books in this genre?

No not at all.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Not really.

Did The Grace of Silence inspire you to do anything?

Nope. It was really kind of boring.

Pleasantly surprised

I purchased this book on sale. I had put off reading it for over a year , no real reason I just had second thoughts after purchasing it.
After I started reading it l looked forward to my morning commute. It was a heart warming story which most middle class people could relate to. It gave incite into what middle class black families endured during the 40's,50's 60's, & 70's.
Well done.

The Grace and Power of Michele Norris

I loved this book so much I'm going to use it as a text in my freshman composition class next fall at Southwest Minnesota State University, a small college in SW Minnesota attended by many 1st-generation farm kids. I discovered this book while doing research on Michele Norris prior to attending Michelle Obama's "Becoming".event in St. Paul, MN. I had long loved listening to Norris on NPR, and I was thrilled to find out she had a memoir. Her writing and story-telling are brilliant. Hearing her story in her own beautiful, rich voice was fantastic. I will be recommending this book widely and plan to create a book group at our college to discuss it and Michelle Obama's book.

Excellent!!!

This book is so powerful on many levels! You will want to read it/listen to it again and again!