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Brown Baby
- A Memoir of Race, Family and Home
- Narrated by: Himesh Patel
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
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Brown Baby
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Summary
How do you find hope and even joy in a world that is racist, sexist and facing climate crisis? How do you prepare your children for it, but also fill them with all the boundlessness and eccentricity that they deserve and that life has to offer?
In Brown Baby, Nikesh Shukla explores themes of racism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. This memoir, by turns heart-wrenching, hilariously funny and intensely relatable, is dedicated to the author’s two young daughters and serves as an act of remembrance to the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. Through love, grief, food and fatherhood, Shukla shows how it’s possible to believe in hope.
This audiobook contains exclusive extracts from the Brown Baby podcast, including interviews with guests such as Nadiya Hussein, Jay Sean and Kit de Waal.
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Critic reviews
"Brown Baby is a beautifully intimate and soul-searching memoir. It speaks to the heart and the mind and bears witness to our turbulent times." (Bernardine Evaristo)
"A wise and wonderful book from the hugely talented Nikesh Shukla. Written for his daughters, inspired by his mother whom they never got to meet, this love letter to his brown babies encompasses fatherhood, feminism, racial politics, growing up and being a grown up, with tenderness, depth and humour." (Meera Syal)
What listeners say about Brown Baby
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 05-03-21
A fantastic book
This is a brilliant book, whether you are a parent or not, a brown person or not - it is well written and speaks truth.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- K. J. Kelly
- 30-05-21
Biography/father's letter to his daughter
Shukla makes this both a beautiful letter to his eldest daughter, telling her truths about her family, father and growing self, as well as making this a biography and look at what it means to be 'Brown' in today's Britain.
As a parent, I was touched at his observations of his baby, his little girl, his curious daughter asking questions of the world and pushing for what she sees to be the 'right' way to be. Her black-and-white and often reactive worldview is sometimes sad (girls are nurses not doctors, there aren't brown faces like hers in books) and contrasts poignantly with the life lessons her dad tries to teach her.
It's an ode to parenting, to the beauty of childhood. To mothers. To family. While also being firmly about race and sexual equality and raising a child (of any race) in a confusing bombardment of stereotypes and perceived perfections.
Shukla is an author I've already read and admired, and I loved the style used here for the book. It isn't quite sequential but there is logic to the structure, I loved hearing him to talk his daughter. And opening up to readers at the same time about his ongoing grief for his mother, his feelings about the father that 'raised' him so different to himself, his own experiences as a parent.
For readers of any race and gender, for parents and non-parents, this is a provocative and stimulating autobiography-observation. Himesh Patel narrates this wonderfully, encapsulating the bittersweet and the loving.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Chloe
- 22-01-23
very personal and honest
This is a very personal collection of letters to his child, though at times I was unsure who the 'you' and intended audience was. It covers very important topics, such as racism, grief, and sexism. Although a tad repetitive and at times cringey (didn't enjoy the feminism essay), it was very honest and illuminating. I personally think this would have resonated more for those who are parents though. For me it just reinforced how vile people are to other people.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Garfield Braithwaite
- 24-04-21
hmmmm
platitudes presented as epigrams again I'm afraid. I wouldn't bother if i were you. I'm glad he wrote it but regret reading it.
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