Top 5 books about dual heritage, chosen by Eva Verde

Author of Lives Like Mine, Eva Verde, selects five books that deal with multiracial identities.

1 Natives: Race & Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

Akala pinpoints precisely where race and class intersect, an education within memoir, examining the discomforting racial dynamics of modern Britain.

2 Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri

I was already disentangling from my own hair insecurities when I discovered this book, finding comfort in both Dabiri’s mixed perspective and her exquisitely written historical explorations.

3 Mixed / Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain by Natalie Morris

Never has a book made me feel more visible. I love Morris’s fluidity about what being mixed means, understanding it’s ever evolving, and claiming her own identity as mixed and Black, which works very well for me too.

4 Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging by Afua Hirsch

Having sought my own escape from indoctrinated thought, this book helped me further understand my feelings and my fit within my birthplace. Part-memoir, part-historical, this brilliant book explores the many complexities
of identity and belonging.

5 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This fiction choice revolutionised my thoughts about my own limited knowledge of my ancestry, making me think of all I unknowingly carry. The story strand involving a DNA discovery resonated in such a way my heart wasn’t right for quite some time. This book helped fill the gaps in me.

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