The Women Who Raised Me

Legacy Edition: A Memoir

By: Victoria Rowell

Narrated by: Victoria Rowell

Born a ward of the state in the State of Maine, the child of a Yankee blueblood mother, Dorothy (Collins) Rowell, and a Black Marine, Levi (Cowan) Wilson, from South Carolina, Victoria Rowell beat the odds that befalls many foster children. The Women Who Raised Me is the remarkable story of her rise out of the foster care system to attain the American Dream and of the myriad women who lifted her up, inspired her, and seeded her with the drive and commitment it took to claim her place in the world.

The Women Who Raised Me is a loving tribute to the stalwart, honorable women … from pianist and horticulturist, Agatha Armstead, a Black Bostonian, and Victoria’s primary foster mother who noticed her spark for creativity and innate passion for ballet to Esther Brooks, her first official ballet teacher and benefactress at the prestigious, Cambridge School of Ballet in Massachusetts. As pivotal was Vicki’s no-nonsense social worker, Linda Webb.

The sheer determination of these diverse women fortified Victoria during her unlikely arrival in New York City at age seventeen with a full scholarship to study at the American Ballet Theater School. Transfixing and redemptive, The Women Who Raised Me is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, ultimately, inspiring. The Legacy Edition of her NY Times bestseller is a tribute to all the children who deserve to have someone to hold their hand, and their space, and to remind them everyone deserves love, and beauty and everything is possible.

©2007, 2024 Victoria Rowell (P)2008 Day Ferry Productions

Wonderful narrative horrible reading

An impressive autobiography with fascinating details about Maine and Rowell’s life. The narration, however, is poor. I grew up in upstate New York and was always told I spoke too fast, but this woman speaks unbelievably fast. I checked several times to be sure I hadn’t accidentally sped it up.