My Fathers' Daughter

Hannah Azieb Pool author Bernardine Evaristo editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:3rd Feb '22

Should be back in stock very soon

My Fathers' Daughter cover

A powerful, intimate memoir of Eritrean-British journalist, Hannah Azieb-Pool, who returns to Eritrea at the age of 30 to meet her family for the first time.

What a story. So vivid, honest and moving' Andrea Levy, author of Small Island

'When I stepped off the plane in Asmara, I had no idea what lay ahead, or how those events would change me . . .'

In her twenties, Hannah-Azieb Pool is given a letter that unravels everything she knows about her life. She knew she was adopted from an orphanage in Eritrea, and as her adoptive family brought her to the UK, they believed she did not have any surviving relatives.


When she discovers the truth in a letter from her brother - that her birth father is alive and her Eritrean family are desperate to meet her - she is faced with a critical choice.

Should she go?

In this intimate memoir, she takes us with her on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery, as she travels to Eritrea to uncover her own story. With radiant warmth, courage and wisdom, Hannah-Azieb disentangles the charged concepts of identity, family and home. Featuring a new introduction from Bernardine Evaristo and an updated afterword from the author, this is a timeless, essential read.

'Remarkable' Observer

Selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books from black Britain and the diaspora, which remap the nation and reframe our history.

Her story is as much about an adopted child facing up to the challenge of tracing her biological family as it is about her search for African roots . . . Pool's candour is striking . . . [She gives] a sense of what it is like to be a young person of African descent who is unquestionably British * Observer *
The sentiment is never pity... rather awe - at the depth of Hannah's experience, her courage in confronting it and her sucess in making sense of it all * The Times *
Groundbreaking . . . Displaying a deft touch in warm prose . . . Pool’s personal journey encourages shift, transformation, and a commitment to ongoing survival * Wasafiri *
What a story. So vivid, honest and moving -- Andrea Levy, author of Small Island
In this beautifully honest book, Pool gives us a front-row view of how identity is built up, but also how it's dismantled . . . Simply engrossing * Time Out *

ISBN: 9780241996065

Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 17mm

Weight: 202g

288 pages