Fiction
IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK
by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom
Description
An arresting debut for anyone looking for insight into what it means to be a Black woman in the world.
Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people.
Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.
A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege—a life she's not sure she wants—as the object of his unhealthy obsession.
And refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home.
Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society.
More Information
Rights Information
UK & Commonwealth (excl Canada): Head of Zeus, October 2021
West Africa: Parresia, October 2021
Translation rights: Joanna Kaliszewska /BKS Agency
Rights sold: German: Orlanda Verlag
Film/tv rights: Mary Pender/WME
Marketing Information
A Good Morning America (GMA) Book Club Buzz Pick!
Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC) selected IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK as a September Add-on Pick!
Amazon.com Editors’ Pick for Best Books of the Month!
Bestselling author, Taylor Jenkins Reid, one of the first to give a blurb for the hardcover, also strongly recommended in her September newsletter: “IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK explores racism, tokenism, and more, through the nuanced experiences of three Black women living in a white-dominated society. She pulls no punches.” Taylor Jenkins Reid also recommends in Bookbub and after the 1-day (6 October) promotion of the ebook IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK climbed to #2 in Amazon Kindle bestsellers in Black & African American Literary Fiction (between Colson Whitehead and Brit Bennett)!
Zibby Owens interviewed Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström on her influential podcast, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books, and also recommends IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK for Good Morning America AND on KatieCouric.com: “What a plot! A white man gets into trouble at work and must avert an international PR crisis. And yet the book isn’t about him. It’s about three women in his orbit: a love interest, a colleague brought in to clean up the mess, and a cleaner. All Black. This novel by an international travel writer is captivating and thought-provoking.”
IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK is a Top Pick in Vulture (New York Magazine) Most Anticipated Books for Fall! And in Scary Mommy: Best New Novels by BIPOC Authors – “A highly anticipated debut novel…getting rave reviews” AND see amazing cover placement with bestselling books by Lisa Jewell and Liane Moriarty – “This beautiful, powerful read just has us waiting to see what this new exciting author will write next.”
Independent (UK): Mariette Williams picks In Every Mirror She’s Black as Best Thought-Provoking Story in 10 Best Books By Black Authors
Platinum magazine (UK): best-selling author Adele Parks picks In Every Mirror She’s Black with 4-stars “dissects some of the vitally important social issues” for October book club Gripping Books to Read
In Every Mirror She’s Black is a LoveReadingUK October Debut of the Month!
Edelweiss/Above the Treeline Editors’ Fiction Pick for #BookFest 2021 – see video!
ALA (American Librarians Association) Booklist annual “Read ‘n’ Rave 2021 Report”!
Endorsements
“These characters will pull at your heartstrings. Lola writes with a contemporary flair, highlighting the layered subtleties of the Black woman's plight. This book will stay with readers for a long time." Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of bestselling novels Here Comes the Sun and Patsy.
"A story that is at once enjoyable and disturbing as it explores the painful price millions of women around the world pay for walking around with black skin." Imbolo Imbue, author of bestselling novels Behold the Dreamers and How Beautiful We Were
“Beautifully complex and deftly drawn, Femi, Brittany, and Muna are going to stay on my mind for a long, long time. A sexy, surprising, searing debut about love, loss, desire, and the many dimensions of Black womanhood. Timely and terrific!” Deesha Philyaw, 2020 National Book Award Finalist and award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
“A wise and complicated exploration of the lives of three Black women in America and Sweden. Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström offers a sharply written story with messy, deeply moving characters, raising brutal questions and steering clear of easy answers. A book that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page.” Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of bestselling novels Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising
“What a debut! Original, thought-provoking, immersive writing from an amazing writer who will be one to watch!” Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Beautiful Creatures
“Akinmade Akerstrom's voice is fresh and insightful as she tells a compelling story of what it means to be a Black woman in a globalised world. This ambitious novel is beautifully realised. Akinmade Akerstrom is definitely a writer to watch!” Yaba Badoe, author of A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars and Wolflight
"An absolute must-read. From its relatable and three-dimensional characters, to its delving into racism and tokenism, to its unique and sometimes heartbreaking examination of the lives of Black women in a Nordic setting, this novel delivers an emotional punch. Kemi, Brittany, and Muna's lives come alive on the page. If you're looking for a novel that will stay with you even days after you've read the last page, then make sure you grab a copy of IN EVERY MIRROR SHE’S BLACK. This is a very different and unpredictable portrayal of Black women's search for love and self, and it's pure magic." - Kim Golden, USA Today bestselling author
“Captivating. Åkerström describes what it is to be an ambitious Black woman in today's world. The story of Kemi, Muna and Brittany-Rae is a story for these times.” Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street
“The time for this wonderful book is right now…Sexy and fun, I raced through it, but it will stay with me for a long time. Amazing sense of place too, I´m now desperate to visit Stockholm. Bravo 5 stars!” Nikki May, author of Wahala
Reviews
“[A] striking debut…as entertaining as it is revealing, Åkerström's novel has readers hoping that each of these women is able to break free from toxic expectations and achieve her every dream and ambition. Along the way, Åkerström also delivers poignant commentary on Swedish culture and the price Black women pay by virtue of the color of their skin. A guaranteed favorite for fans of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah.” Booklist
“Three Black women in search of a better life end up in Sweden in this convincing debut…Åkerström powerfully conveys all of the women’s experiences with race.” Publishers Weekly
“A searing debut...It is hard to believe that IN EVERY MIRROR SHE’S BLACK is a debut novel, so excellent is Akerstrom’s writing…IN EVERY MIRROR SHE’S BLACK delivers an emotional punch that will stay with readers for a long time.” 5-star review in Voice Magazine (UK)
“Immersive, intriguing…This is a fascinating and challenging look at identity and how racism operates in an already insular society, but also a really compelling read.” Sarra Manning in The Best Books to Read This October, Red magazine (UK)
“A pointed look at how Black women must navigate the world around them.” Mariette Williams, 10 Best Books by Black Authors, the Independent (UK)
“Incisive, thought-provoking and un-put-down-able, this powerful, prescient page-turner…Lola Akinmade Åkerström's In Every Mirror She’s Black is a remarkable feat of fiction. Teeming with hope, desire, struggle and love, this powerful page-turner pulls no punches as its engagingly three-dimensional characters strive for better lives in a world that makes it anything but easy for them to be themselves. It also dismantles any notion of there being a monolithic Black culture, and lays bare the unjust multiple standards by which Black women are judged - and all this through dazzling story-telling that will leave readers desperate to read the author’s next novel.” Starred review by Joanne Owen, LoveReading (UK)
“Nigerian American author Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström’s debut novel is as much a liberating battle cry as it is a searing, multifaceted examination of the hearts and minds of Black women navigating white-dominated spaces… Åkerström, who moved to Sweden in 2009, has crafted an absorbing, if unsettling, narrative that dissects the realities of what it means to be a Black woman in the world today. She writes with genuine empathy for her characters and sheds light on their struggles with the understanding that there is no single Black experience. Rather than shying away from or oversimplifying difficult and complex topics, Åkerström has effectively packaged themes of racism, immigration, fetishism and otherness into an engrossing story that will enlighten its readers, regardless of their nationality or race.” Stephenie Harrison, Bookpage
“While rogue twitter fingers were waging diaspora wars, Akinmade Åkerström was crafting an engaging novel that presents the nuanced experiences of Black women from all walks of life. The author takes on misogynoir masterfully in this book that’s never quite what you think it is.” Essence
Author Biography
Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning author, speaker, and photographer. Her work has appeared in National GeographicTraveler,BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, Slate, Lonely Planet, Fodor's, and others. She is the author of bestselling LAGOM: Swedish Secret of Living Well (Headline Home, 2017) available in 18 foreign language editions. She has been recognized with multiple awards for her work, including 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award, and she was honoured with a MIPAD 100 (Most Influential People of African Descent) Award within media and culture in 2018. In 2021 Lola was honoured by Newsweek with the Future of Travel Storytelling Award, "Lola Akinmade Åkerström is a force: a prolific travel writer, photographer and author who is always telling important stories and showing a different side of travel, while inspiring us to become more thoughtful travelers." Kathleen Rellihan, Newsweek Travel Editor. In 2022 Lola is a Hasselblad Heroine and winner of the WITS Bessie Award for “Creator of the Year.” She lives in Stockholm.
Watch video of Lola Akinmade Akerstrom’s TEDx Stockholm talk (16 November 2019), The Power of Asking Why Not
Craig Literary
Craig Literary, founded by Jessica Craig in 2016, is a full-service literary agency representing diverse writers of fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. The agency grows out of Jessica Craig's 20+ years of experience as a top foreign rights agent and on her record as an effective international champion of high quality authors, from established names to outstanding debuts, and across genres in fiction and non-fiction.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher/Imprint Sourcebooks / Landmark
- Publication Date September 2021
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 1728240387
- Publication Country or regionUnited States
- FormatHardback
- Primary Price 21.49 USD
- Pages417
- ReadershipGeneral
- Publish StatusPublished
- Copyright Year2021
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