Her father was from Chisināu, Bessarabia. A teacher of African American lite- rature, she has been influenced by an autobiographical tradition that is characterized by a speaking out against racism and a grounding of that expression in one's own ex- perience-an overlapping of the stories of one's own life and the world. Like the stories of that tradition, Lazarre's is a recovery of memories that come together in this book with a new sense of meaning. From a crucial moment in which consciousness is trans- formed, to recalling and accepting the nature and realities of whiteness, each step de- scribes an aspect of her internal and intellectual journey. Recalling events that opened her eyes to her sons' and husband's experience as Black Americans-an operation, turned into a horrific nightmare by a doctor's uncon- scious racism or the jarring truths brought home by a visit to an exhibit on slavery at the Richmond Museum of the Confederacy - or her own revealing missteps, Lazarre describes a movement from silence to voice, to a commitment to action, and to an appreciation of the value of a fluid, even ambiguous, identity. It si acoming of age that permits a final retelling of family history and family reunion. With her skill as anove- list and her experience as a teacher, Jane Lazarre has crafted a narrative as compelling as ti si telling. It eloquently describes the author's delight at being accepted into her husband's family and attests to the power ofmotherhood.