A Bibliophiles Book Blog//7/10//I loved the way this book was
written! The warmth and friendliness of her tone really invites you
into her story. Invites you into her heart. It's always so
interesting to read about someone else's life. To see what type of
hardships they've faced, to celebrate in their joys, mourn their
losses... it always feels like you're diving head-first into their
personal life, and honestly...it makes you feel like you're truly
friends.//AM Publishers writes, "Engrossing, strikingly honest,
reflective piece. An ambitious and captivating scope of
work."//Rebecca Millar adds, "It is a fascinating insight into the
lived experience of our modern world as well as an exploration of
how we can live better, whether that be with ourselves or with
others."//"Engaging, uplifting and enriching....interesting, funny
and sad (and actually made me cry)" - Booklovermum on Amazon
UK//"Beautiful and Brilliant Memoir about Healing and Growth" -
Favorite Librarian on Amazon.com//"Reads really really well! A
brilliant account of challenges faced by a girl child." - Amazon
Customer UK//"Found myself laughing out loud, sometimes close to
tears and others reflecting on my own life" - Saaji Nana on
Goodreads//Authorsreading.com//The title of Kinky Roots, by Ingrid
Arlington, sets the tone of a fascinating memoir that contains
philosophical gems. The author was reared in Zimbabwe and
Johannesburg, South Africa, and is of African heritage and culture,
thus her kinky hair and her kinky family heritage. "Growing up,
your hair was your crown...The straighter and the longer it was,
the better"...or "it was kinky, curly, frizzy or otherwise known as
nappy."//This is a feisty and delightfully irreverent memoir. It is
a collage of memories, ruminations, vignettes, and character
sketches, encompassing a lifetime of poignant observations by a
first-rate writer. Arlington shows herself as an unstoppable force
tethered to an iron will. She has an exceptional ability to clearly
see the very inner workings of people and the things they might
rather keep hidden. Arlington writes with a powerful and striking
prose style. Her memoir is very much a book about how to grow up,
think, and 'be' (especially if you appreciate a complex, funny,
intellectual narrator). It's a book about love, discovery, anger,
forgiveness, and integrating all kinds of contradictions into a
workable self.//Arlington was born in Zimbabwe to a young mother
and an absent father. Reared in a large extended, dysfunctional
family and surrounded by domestic violence and the remains of
racial apartheid, Arlington survived her teen years in spite of
family tragedy and the death of a younger sister. The cultural
heritage of native Africans is incorporated into her history and is
an educational glimpse into a little-understood society.//Arlington
introduces her memoir in the present time by beginning her story
while living in her home in the United Kingdom. The manuscript is
constructed creatively, interspersing platitudes, with interludes
of references to contemporary music and sage advice throughout the
sequential story of her life. She tells of unfulfilled romances,
struggles with getting an education, and her desire to travel.
Kinky Roots is much more than a coming-of-age story.//As a young
adult after completing college, she holds several jobs in the
technology field where she meets a blond, blue-eyed English young
man. Alex is the love of her life. They successfully deal with the
ostracism of interracial marriage, and after struggles with his
alcoholic father and dysfunctional mother, they moved to the UK.
Kinky Roots contemplates their obvious differences with natural
curiosity, but Arlington never relies on superficial differences to
tear their relationship apart.//Throughout the memoir,
thought-provoking statements reveal the maturing of Arlington's
mind as she deals with chaos, racial discrimination, and mental
health issues. She states that one of the critical lessons she
learned is that because "'something is meant to be' doesn't mean
that you won't have struggles and hurdles achieving it." As she
matures, she realizes that "you don't know what you don't know
until you do" and "it's ok to rebel." Throughout family trials, she
remembers that "rain does not fall on one roof alone." She draws
strength from her family and cultural heritage even when being
ostracized for being non-white and female. A proverb, "when you
strike a woman, you strike a rock," seems to be her motto.//Kinky
Roots is Arlington's first book. Although she is a Cybersecurity
consultant by profession, she has discovered writing to be a
passion. Expect to discover additional work by this intelligent and
provocative young writer.//Kinky Roots is a superbly culturally
rich memoir that also has the virtue of portraying individuals in
intercultural relationships, confronts interracial differences and
the intercultural disconnects. It is an exploration of nuances and
tenderness; a relevant read for today's world.
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