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Finding Samuel Lowe  By  cover art

Finding Samuel Lowe

By: Paula Williams Madison
Narrated by: Paula Williams Madison
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Publisher's summary

Thanks to her spiteful, jealous Jamaican mother, Nell Vera Lowe was cut off from her Chinese father, Samuel, when she was just a baby, after he announced that he was taking a Chinese bride. By the time Nell was old enough to travel to her father's shop in St. Anne's Bay, he'd taken his family back to China, never learning what became of his eldest daughter. Bereft, Nell left Jamaica for New York to start a new life. But her Asian features set her apart from her Harlem neighbors and even her own children - a difference that contributed to her feeling of loneliness and loss, which she instilled in her only daughter, Paula.

Years later, with a successful corporate career behind her and the arrival of her only grandchild raising questions about family and legacy, Paula decided to search for Samuel Lowe's descendants in China. With the support of her brothers and the help of encouraging strangers, Paula eventually pieced together the full story of her grandfather's life, following his story from China to Jamaica and back and connecting with 300 surprised relatives who were overjoyed to meet her.

©2015 Paula Williams Madison (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A well-structured memoir told in brief, punchy vignettes alternating between past and present." ( Kirkus)

What listeners say about Finding Samuel Lowe

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Family is Family

Coming from a Jamaican background myself listening to Paula Williams Madison tell the tale of finding her extended family and bringing them together through their shared ancestry from Samuel Lowe is comparable and reminiscent of my own journey into finding my own extended family which like hers lives in Jamaica as well as England, The United States, Canada and even Costa Rica! What struck me most was her finding that family was family even separated by vast oceans and entire continents, languages, and appearance, similar to Jamaica's national motto "Out of many, One people"

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excellent

excellent family research. everyone should lnow where they come from. I wish Mrs Madison woold a follow up

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Courage and persistence

I am loved by the the courage and persistence of the author. I am lived by the acceptance of the multiracial family.

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Fascinating

A beautiful story that makes me wonder how many more Black Asian families there are. Ms Madison definitely made her mother proud.

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3 people found this helpful