Notes to a Black Woman - Paperback

Name: Notes to a Black Woman - Paperback
Brand: BooksCloud
SKU: 9780300270297
Price: 20.00 USD
Availability: InStock

by Francoise Ega

$20.00

Book Overview

The extraordinary testimony of a daring Caribbean writer-activist, determined to expose injustice and defend the dignity of migrant workers

A Words Without Borders Most Anticipated Book of 2026

In the 1960s, hundreds of women traveled from French colonies in the West Indies to become domestic workers for white families in France. Lured by the French government with the false promise of economic opportunity, these women instead found themselves subjected to racial discrimination, deplorable living conditions, overwork, and no pay until they "earned back" the cost of the trip to France.

After hearing the shocking stories of Caribbean domestic workers, Françoise Ega took a position as a cleaning woman in wealthy French homes in order to chronicle these abuses. Structured as a collection of unsent letters to the Brazilian writer Carolina Maria de Jesus, Notes to a Black Woman weaves the story of Ega's experiences in France with her memories of Martinique, her observations on the joys and tribulations of family life, and her reflections on the power of the written word to reveal the discomfiting truths behind the facade of bourgeois French society.

Composed on her bus commutes and by candlelight at her kitchen table while her five children slept, Notes to a Black Woman is a piercing denunciation of the legacies of colonialism and slavery, a wholesale rejection of alienation, and an intimate archive of friendship, joy, solidarity, motherhood, and hope.

ISBN	9780300270297
Author	Francoise Ega
Publisher	Yale University Press
Genre	Biography and Education
Format	Paperback
Published	February 2026
Language	ENG- English
Pages	248
Weight	1.0 lb
Target Audience	Adults
Print Size	Standard Print

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