My Name Is Why cover art

My Name Is Why

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
Compare plans

My Name Is Why

By: Lemn Sissay
Narrated by: Lemn Sissay, Richard Burnip, Zoe Mills
Try for $0.00

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $20.67

Buy Now for $20.67

Season's Savings | $0.99/mo for 3 months

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo. after 3 months - terms apply.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, DAILY TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY TIMES, OBSERVER, NEW STATESMAN, METRO, DAILY MAIL, SUNDAY EXPRESS and HERALD

‘A quest for understanding, for home, for answers’ Matt Haig

How does a government steal a child and then imprison him? How does it keep it a secret? This story is how.

At the age of seventeen, after a childhood in a foster family followed by six years in care homes, Norman Greenwood was given his birth certificate. He learned that his real name was not Norman. It was Lemn Sissay. He was British and Ethiopian. And he learned that his mother had been pleading for his safe return to her since his birth.

This is Lemn's story: a story of neglect and determination, misfortune and hope, cruelty and triumph.

Sissay reflects on his childhood, self-expression and Britishness, and in doing so explores the institutional care system, race, family and the meaning of home. Written with all the lyricism and power you would expect from one of the nation's best-loved poets, this moving, frank and timely memoir is the result of a life spent asking questions, and a celebration of the redemptive power of creativity.

 Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences Discrimination Inspiring
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic Reviews

"A lyrical, painful and yet hope-filled memoir . . . Shattering, light-searching"
"Searing . . . Unputdownable . . . My Name Is Why is authentic and beautiful, a potential game-changer in public attitudes to children raised in care. It’s about bureaucratic cruelty and what happens when love is absent. Don’t miss it"
"An extraordinary story"
"The most amazing thing about this book is that it’s not made up. This actually happened. It is an incredible story" (BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH)
"I have never read a memoir like it. A blistering account of a young life in the hands of neglectful authorities. It’s a quest for understanding, for home, for answers. Grips like a thriller. Astounding" (MATT HAIG)
"The great triumph of this work comes from its author’s determination to rail against what he rightly diagnoses as this institutionally endorsed disremembering of black and marginalised experience. It is a searing and unforgettable re-creation of the most brutal of beginnings" (Michael Donkor)
"Utterly devastating and beautiful . . . Breathtakingly written" (DOLLY ALDERTON)
"This is a deeply moving memoir that speaks with incredible poeticism. A staggering exposé of colonial theft and abandonment, this book is grippingly heartbreaking" (DAVID LAMMY)
"A fascinating memoir . . . So powerful" (ELIF SHAFAK)
"The engaging transfiguring truth of My Name Is Why is like a baptism of truth – leaving you washed clean of lies and reborn in love. Profound in its kindness, intelligence and unselfish heart, this book is important and unputdownable" (JESSICA HYNES)
All stars
Most relevant
An incredible story told by the author himself. He hooks you in with his poeticism and passion. Highly recommend.

My favourite audible book to date

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is beautifully written - the journey of a child, supported by extracts from official reports at the time, and commented upon by his adult self. It is tough and raw. It is the powerful journey of a child with a strong adult guide. An essential listen for anyone who ever needed, but did not have, a strong adult in their own journey.

Powerful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Once I started to listen to this beautifully written, brilliantly narrated, autobiography, I could hardly bring myself to turn it off. This sad, stark and confronting account of Lemn Sissay’s experience of growing up in the UK’s, so called, care system, is the best audiobook I’ve listened to for a very long time.

Brilliant!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What a beautiful book, a real life account of being raised in the UK care system, Lemn Sissay is a wonderful human being and an inspiration. I absolutely loved this book;)

“They took me away from me”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This story is both heartbreaking and also engaging - the format of bringing all the perspectives together - you are left standing as a witness to institutional racism and child abuse. The author tells us enough about himself that we know his story and can feel his pain and that of others, but also his struggle, his incredible capacity to resist and we are left wanting to know more about this extraordinary story teller and poet. Look forward to another.

Truth telling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.