Memoir: FINDING SAMUEL LOWE by Paula Williams Madison

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A friend sent this book to me and I'm so glad she did. It was a terrific and inspirational read, about a woman's determination to find her mother Nell's paternal family, a family her mother had lost contact with at age 3, when she was separated from her Chinese father, Samuel Lowe, and hidden away in the countryside by her Jamaican mother, Albertha. Years later, Nell's daughter. Paula Williams Madison has traced her mother's family lineage to a village in Guangdong, China and found relatives she never knew she had.  

Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem by Paula Williams Madison
Published April 14, 2015; Amistad Press
Genre: memoir
Rating: 5/5

First chapter, first paragraph:

He gave me one of his serious, twenty-four karat, all-Roosevelt looks. "Baby," he asked, "do you know you're Black?"I looked at him, puzzled and defensive. "Yes, I know I am Black." He looked a little hesitant, as if he were afraid to say any more, afraid to make the next point. He was worried about the unknowns. He worried that I might indeed find this family of mine, of Samuel Lowe's - find whomever might still exist. 

Teaser: (page 174)

In a few weeks, my world had been expanded by another continent - a huge continent where one corner houses my family. I have a place, a village, elders, cousins. They know me and they know my name....
I am Hakka.
I am Lowe Ding Chow's granddaughter.
I am Nell Vera Lowe's only daughter.
I am a Lowe.   

My comments: Very impressive research went into this memoir about a woman's determination and success in finding and reuniting with her mother's paternal side of the family in Jamaica, the U.S., and in China. Moving and inspirational, it's a must read for all who value the importance of family, tradition, and culture. I admired the author's frankness and her sharing her family's complex history. 

Book description: Spanning four generations and moving between New York, Jamaica, and China, a powerful memoir that is a universal story of one woman's search for her maternal grandfather and the key to her self-identity. Finding Samuel Lowe includes a 16-page black-and-white photo insert and photos in the text. (publisher)

The author, Paula Williams Madison, and her husband Roosevelt Madison, live in Los Angeles.