Red Dust Road

Synopsis: From the moment when, as a little girl, she realizes that her skin is a different colour from that of her beloved mum and dad, to the tracing and finding of her birth parents, her Highland mother and Nigerian father, the journey that Jackie Kay undertakes in "Red Dust Road" is full of unexpected twists, turns and deep emotions. In a book shining with warmth, humour and compassion, she discovers that inheritance is about much more than genes: that we are shaped by songs as much as by cells, and that our internal landscapes are as important as those through which we move. Taking the reader from Glasgow to Lagos and beyond, "Red Dust Road" is revelatory, redemptive and courageous, unique in its voice and universal in its reach. It is a heart-stopping story of parents and siblings, friends and strangers, belonging and beliefs, biology and destiny and love.

Review: Jackie has a great way with words, as you would expect from a poet/novelist, and this is both a very moving and a very funny account of her search for her birth parents. Her story is told in alternating chapters. One focusing on the here and now and the other reflecting back, with the help of her adoptive parents, on what life was like for a mixed race child growing up in Scotland. Her Nigerian birth father, Jonathan, is unintentionally hilarious .. Jackie was not sure what to expect but whatever pre conceived ideas she has (and Sidney Poitier comes to mind whenever she thinks about him) nothing prepares her for what she finds. One thing's for sure, since Jackie was illegitimately born forty odd years before, Jonathan has found religion in rather a big way ... 'I shift uneasily in my seat. Christ Almighty, my father is barking mad. He spins and dances and sings some more, singing in the most God-awful flat voice, really off-key. The singing sounds like a mixture of African chanting and hymns. Its a shock. Despite the fact that he can't sing, his performance is captivating. I watch his bare feet dance around the room and recognise my own toes.'

Her birth mother, Elizabeth, is the complete opposite, small, white and vulnerable looking, but she too has sought comfort in religion and is a member of the local Mormon church (through which she has come to believe that adopted people ask to be adopted whilst still in the womb.)
Jackie realises that Elizabeth has memory problems when five birthday cards turn up one year and also five Christmas cards each containing a voucher and there's a heartbreaking little visit where Elizabeth tries to take Jackie to a church lunch but after they set off she can't remember where it is ... 'All over the living room little pink Post-It notes, reminding her of things, were stuck to every conceivable surface. "Check cooker. Milk. Phone Aisha. Church Homework. Jackie. Lock door. Check door. Turn off Tap'

There are so many obstacles to overcome, neither of her birth parents have told their families about Jackie, Elizabeth is keen to do it but Jonathan is dead against telling any of his. She's not really able to find out much about how she came to be because Jonathan doesn't really want to talk about it and Elizabeth's mind is becoming increasingly muddled. Jackie is also worried about what Jonathan will make of the fact that she's gay but to her surprise he takes it in his stride ... 'Oh-oh, oh oh ... you mean you are lesbian? ... which one of you is the man? .... I don't mind the women, God doesn't mind the women. It is the men he minds ... Stay away from men .. they will only give you aids' ... and to top it all he starts asking inappropriate questions about her sex life. Also, though he is incredibly supportive, you can tell that her adoptive father is finding the reality of his daughter seeking out her birth parents a little more difficult that he thought
it would be.

On reflection, Jackie was incredibly fortunate to have been given up for adoption. Her adoptive parents are marvellous. Radical, principled and encouraging, they brought both Jackie and her brother up to be confident, well rounded, free thinking individuals. She really couldn't have picked better parents if she had been given a catalogue of the worlds finest and she knows this, but it's only natural to wonder about your roots and to be curious about those that came before you and when Jackie travels to Africa, it's not only the people that tug at her heartstrings and stir her blood but the place itself.

I enjoyed it, it's warm, funny and interesting but it didn't stop me in my tracks, it just lacked that certain something to make it extraordinary but all the same, it's a great read.