In Every Mirror She’s Black

A Novel

De: Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström

Narrado por: Rosemarie Akwafo, Sara Powell

A Go On Girl! Book Club Pick

Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people.

Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the US to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.

A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the US propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege as the object of his unhealthy obsession.

And refugee Muna Saheed finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home.

Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society.

©2021 Lola Akinmade Akerstrom (P)2022 Tantor

deep book with lots of twists; narration not good

The story was intriguing. It moved slowly at first but came together well. The narration was difficult though. The American and Swedish accents were terrible and distracting. A southern Black woman from Atlanta does not sound like that at all. It would have been better with three different narrators for each point of view.

whoa!

Really great book. I would love a sequel. I want to know if the black women ever connect. I want to know more. I wished I could read on and on!

Amazing Characters

I need several more hours with these people, and q few more years of their lives.

the complexity of the characters

I liked the details and backgrounds into the main characters. This made them come to life.

Heartfelt and thought provoking

Three stories of complex women longing for true meaningful connection in life, work and love. Beautifully written, excellent narration.

All the emotions😭

I enjoyed this novel on so many levels. being a native of DC, I enjoyed the early chapters based there, and the nuances of corporate and social culture in the DC, md & va area. Then I was sucked into the distinct narratives of our main protags. I'm going to try and not leave too many spoilers, but this story of these 3 women left me feeling a cacophony of emotions. I was rooting for them, feeling their shared outrage at their circumstances, and finally left with a sobering sadness in the last couple of chapters. I resonated with our protags in so many ways. I felt their hope, I felt their joys, I felt their anger and frustration and hopelessness in some instances.

this novel was written with so much care, and empathy. the myriad of delicate social issues it tackles was done with so much taste and tact. And, while the majority of the tale takes place in a country I have personally never been to, the world building was done in such a way that I was transplanted there myself.

10/10

Intriguing and Interesting Characters

I love how this story wove together real life characters dealing with complex issues. It delivered a fresh look at varied issues including racism, elitism, immigration, people with special needs, and much more. I also loved the great performance delivered in various dialects which augmented the realism.

I loved it!

Overall it was a really good read. I highly recommend. It give insight to being a black woman and how we are often treated and viewed in many places.

Compelling story

From the title, I thought it was going to just be about struggles of being a blank woman and how we are perceived. It discussed so much more and exemplified other areas we can all improve in. It draws you in and has interesting twists and plots. Very good read.

Hard to follow due to various accents

Initially it was difficult to follow due to the various accents, such as UK, some African countries, Sweden and US. Otherwise it was a great read /listen. The ending was very unexpected and crazy and I hope there is a sequel to follow, since there are so many unanswered questions.