DON'T LET IT GET YOU DOWN Essays on Race, Gender, and the Body

Author Savala Nolan uses her voice to full effect in her narration of this collection of essays about Black womanhood and the complicated realities of living in a racialized body. Her narration, like her prose, has heft. Her voice is full of life, inviting yet firm. She often pauses at the end of meaningful passages, allowing their full impact to sink in. The essays themselves are emotionally compelling and full of critical insight. Nolan explores the complexities of mixed-race identity, Black motherhood, interracial friendships, sexism in popular culture, and the lives of the Black women enslaved by her white ancestors. Her narration is so natural that it often seems like she's speaking directly to the listener, looking them in the eye as if to say: "Pay attention." L.S. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2021]