An Autobiography of Skin

This magisterial, intimate look at Black womanhood "follows three women whose various traumas haunt them literally and metaphorically, as it explores what it means to be a Black woman in America today" (The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice).

A middle-aged woman feed slots at a secret back-room parlor. A new mother descends into a devastating postpartum depression, wracked with the fear that she is unable to protect her children. A daughter returns home to join the other women in her family waging spiritual combat with the ghosts of their past.

An Autobiography of Skin is a dazzling and masterful portrait of interconnected generations in the South from a singular new voice, offering a raw and tender view into the interior lives of Black women. It is at once a powerful look at how experiences are carried inside the body, inside the flesh and skin, and a joyous testament to how healing can be found within—in love, mercy, gratitude, and freedom.


Genre: Literary Fiction

"Lakiesha Carr writes achingly . . . [A] distinguished debut - its bodily rhythms, its sensory evocativeness, its quality of attention to the human soul - perhaps what defines it most is its insistent drive toward honesty, toward the compelling truths that could only have been uncovered by the angled vision of this particular author." - Jamel Brinkley

"I was stunned by Lakiesha Carr's preciseness of memory; how she remembers things that most people do not - the ancient things, the careless things, the shameful things - because forgetting feels better. It's courageous to give them voice; and not just any voice, but a singsongy one, like a blues or a gospel. So beautifully crafted, An Autobiography of Skin is a dangerous and needed magic, both frightening and joyful in its conjuring." - Robert Jones Jr

"With rich and rhythmic prose, Lakiesha Carr pulls us into the warm, wounded bodies of her unforgettable characters. Obstinate, yearning women make their way through a world that day after day asks too much of them. Still, they each guard something miraculous: hope, mostly intact. Carr writes with compassion, wicked humor, and a rare intuition that runs deep and true." - Chia-Chia Lin

"Full of aching desire and hard won wisdom, An Autobiography of Skin is a work of art. Carr's pages contain the kinds of Black women we see but seldom hear. This book is nothing short of a love letter to the powerful women who comprise the heart of a community." - Maurice Carlos Ruffin

"Meditative and powerful in its love for the generations of Black women at its heart, An Autobiography of Skin dives body-and-soul into its characters' experiences to explore questions about faith, forgiveness, and the fortitude that just living day to day can sometimes require. Lakiesha Carr unspools her stories with a patient fearlessness, venturing into unexpected places and unique perspectives to fully illuminate them." - Dawnie Walton

"Lakiesha Carr writes elegantly about grief and passion, loss and redemption, though she is unafraid to twist the knife. Her characters endure monumental heartbreaks, both from their loved ones and a world that threatens all manner of violence yet demands sacrifice in return. These women face life's inevitable disappointments, and while their choices may haunt us, they also remind us that romance somehow persists, as does the human spirit. A gorgeous debut from a talent to watch." - Laura Warrell