Long before she created her online book club, Well-Read Black Girl, Glory Edim found solace and inspiration in literature. In her insightful first memoir, Gather Me, Edim (On Girlhood) traces her life's journey through the books and authors that have shaped her as a writer and a person.
The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Edim adored her father and was devastated when he suddenly moved back to Nigeria after her parents' divorce. She spent much of her childhood caring for her two younger brothers and, when she was older, dealing with her mother's mental illness. But through the conflicts, challenges, and questions about her family and her future, Edim repeatedly turned to books: wise, powerful narratives that helped her see herself more clearly and eventually find her place in the world. Books helped her make sense of her family dynamics while providing an important counter to the prevailing narratives of a white-dominated society.
Edim's memoir reflects on seminal Black texts, as well as texts by white authors such as Louisa May Alcott that she encountered as a student and a young woman. As she kept working to understand herself and find a path forward, her beloved books provided companionship, wisdom, and characters who became Edim's friends. She draws insightful parallels between the books she loves and her own life, and concludes with a letter to her young son, Zikomo, about the influence of stories on a person's identity.
Warm, reflective, and full of literary joy, Gather Me is a dynamic account of one woman building her life on a solid foundation of great books. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams