Lois 's Reviews > A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging

This is narrated by the author, Dionne Brand, with the afterward also read by its author, Saidiya Hartman.

This acts as a beautiful and amazing exploration of the Black Diaspora. How no matter where in the Diaspora you are or are from, we're all here because our ancestors walked through the Door of No Return. I've read this decades ago and couldn't resist the option of listening to this as a new audiobook. What w delightful way to make this crucial discussion even more accessible for those of us of the Diaspora.

This uses historical records, memoirs, etc. to recreate this experience, the trauma it wrought, and how that informs how we see and think of ourselves. It's so much more than this. It's almost a blending of art and history. In which many of the historical records that document this time period are scanty, but this map helps us find our way to who we are now.

This focused on and is tied in with the authors travels. I am a Black American who lived for a decade in Canada, and her observations about how Blackness is treated here are profound. I have so much more experience to bring with me to this reread. My experience is richer for it.

Thank you to Dionne Brand, Brilliance Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.