This year’s Black History Month theme is “Reclaiming Narratives”. Here are some books by Black authors that express this theme.
October is recognised as Black History Month in the UK, a time to recognise and celebrate the wide-reaching contributions and impact of Black people in the UK and beyond.
The Care Group is an inclusive organisation, and we believe greater understanding and different perspectives is a strength. A simple way you can learn more about the Black experience is to read books by Black authors. Following on from our popular book list last Black History Month, read on for our 2024 selection of books by Black authors.
RAF Veteran Alford Gardner's memoir, Finding Home: A Windrush Story
By Alford Dalrymple Gardner and Howard Gardner
The story of RAF veteran Alford Gardner has become even more poignant with his recent passing, on 1 October 2024. A passenger on HMT Empire Windrush in 1948, his memoir, written with his son Howard Gardner, follows Alford's journey from Jamaica to joining the British Air Force in WWII and returning to England to build a life and family. His story is an important historical text for how we remember and discuss the Windrush generation and their legacy in building home for themselves and generations after across the UK.
Black Love Matters: Real Talk On Romance, Being Seen, And Happily Ever Afters
By Jessica P. Pryde
Black Love Matters is an incisive, intersectional essay anthology that celebrates and examines romance and romantic media through the lens of Black readers, writers, and cultural commentators.
In this collection, revered authors and sparkling newcomers, librarians and academicians, and avid readers and reviewers consider the mirrors and windows into Black love as it is depicted in the novels, television shows, and films that have shaped their own stories. The book is edited by Book Riot columnist and librarian Jessica Pryde.
Queen Charlotte Sophia: A Royal Affair
By Tina Andrews
Widely speculated as Britain's most famous (possibly) mixed-race Princess, Queen Charlotte Sophia, this book comes alive in this reimagined story of her life where romance, adventure and politics collide.
From a German backwater to the capital city of the most prolific Empire in the world, we journey with Queen Charlotte as she tries to discover the truth of her family's secret heritage, guided by an amulet and wooden chest left to her upon her father's death.
A daughter. A lover. A fighter. A Queen. Tina Andrews's Queen Charlotte Sophia: A Royal Affair, offers a fantastic portrait of a woman, whose life continues to fascinate the world.
Rising to the Surface
By Lenny Henry
One of the UK’s best-loved personalities, Lenny Henry's Rising to the Surface traces his career through the 80s and 90s. We pick up his story from when he is a 16-year-old who has just won a talent competition. He now has to navigate his way through the seas of professional comedy, learning his craft through sheer graft and hard work.
We follow Lenny through a period of great creativity - prize-winning tv programmes, summer seasons across Britain, the starring role in a Hollywood film, and stand-up gigs in New York. But with each rise there is a fall, the most traumatic being the death of his mother.
Finding Me
By Viola Davis
The Grammy-winning memoir from Viola Davis is a startlingly honest and, at times, jaw-dropping must-read.
The book charts her rise from poverty and abuse to becoming the first African American to win the triple crown of an Oscar, Emmy and Tony for acting.
In her words: “In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose and my strength, but also to finding my voice in a world that didn't always see me.”
Just Sayin’
By Malorie Blackman
Malorie Blackman OBE is one of Britain’s best loved and most widely-read writers.
Her hugely popular Noughts and Crosses series, started in 2000, sparked a new and necessary conversation about race and identity in the UK, and are already undisputed classics of twenty-first-century children’s literature.
This book is an account of her journey, from a childhood surrounded by words to the 83 rejection letters she received in response to sending out her first project. It explores the books who have made her who she is, and the background to some the most beloved and powerful children’s stories of today.
A Visible Man
By Edward Enninful
Edward Enninful was the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue. In this book he shares the inspiring story of his journey, beginning in a childhood bedroom in Ghana overlooking firing squads, to arriving in 1990s London as an asylum seeker, to today setting the cultural agenda in the world of fashion.
A Visible Man is the story of a husband, son, brother and friend. Taking us from the neon thrills of Soho clubs to nights spent on friends' sofas, this is the story of Edward's phenomenal grit and determination: through fame and failures, joy and loss, ill health and addiction, heartbreak and coming out.
Black Joy
By Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire
This anthology explores the theme Black joy. Twenty-eight iconic voices, including Munya Chawawa, Travis Alabanza, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Diane Abbott, speak on what Black joy means to them in this uplifting and empowering anthology.
Edited by award-winning journalist, and former gal-dem editor-in-chief, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and up-and-coming talent Timi Sotire, this book is a celebration of Black British culture in all it.
