The Women who Raised Me by Victoria Rowell is an interesting read above and beyond the celebrity of the author. It’s a memoir that can speak to many, though its primary purpose – in addition to being a “thank-you” missive - is that of recognizing the difficulties of being a foster child; and how it imbues you with strengths sufficient to overcome the frailties that seem inherent in surviving a foster childhood. Victoria Rowell has achieved great professional success coming from a very rocky start; and she freely, graciously and emphatically credits her foster mothers and sisters throughout the book. I particularly like how she never lets go of wanting to know as much as possible about her real mother, and her half siblings. She does a lovely job of delving into the family histories of her own blood mother as well as those of her foster families, primarily from Maine. It’s fascinating to see the machinations of foster care in the virtually white state of Maine taking care of black foster children in the 1960’s. Family, foster and otherwise, is what grounds us and Vicki has successfully conveyed this aspect of life in her pleasing and positive memoir. MAT ( )

A DANCER'S STRENGTH AND GRACE

This is actually my second review of actress Victoria Rowell's superb memoir, "The Women Who Raised Me." I didn’t know my first review of the book was going to take the form of a poem until it happened. That I definitely would write something about it became a certainty by the time I got halfway through the book.

Reading it was like being ambushed by splendor. It must have been the unexpected shock of the book’s overall beauty that sparked the composition of my review-poem: A Dancer’s Strength and Grace.

I have my friend Cass, the co-author of “3 Black Chicks Review Flicks,” to thank for making me aware of Rowell’s book. But the greater share of my gratitude has to go to Rowell herself for telling her deeply compelling story with a historian’s eye for detail, the stylized polish of a novelist, and the linguistic grace of a poet.

In all honesty, the book’s superior literary qualities stunned me. Not because of any assumptions made about Ms. Rowell’s abilities as a writer but because memoirs about star performing artists generally draw their strength more from disclosures of the sensational than from aesthetic excellence. They also tend to focus more on the star subject rather than paying tribute to those around them. Rowell, it would seem, was destined to take that road less traveled and readers around the world can be glad she did. Please click or paste the following url for the poem-review of “The Women Who Raised Me”:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/discussionboard/discussion.html/ref=cm_rdp_st_rd/102-05...

by Author-Poet Aberjhani
author of I Made My Boy Out of Poetry
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance ( )

Rowell's history as a child raised in foster care.

Autographed 4/18/08