by C. Angela Todd and C. Ann Todd
Dorrance Publishing Company
book review by Barbara Bamberger Scott
“Dear reader, I am sure you realize our way of life was a most enriching experience, but it wasn’t easy to say goodbye to a country and friends.”
The Todd sisters offer a shared autobiographical look at their unique childhood, spent mostly outside America as daughters of the eleventh black man to be inducted into the United States Foreign Service in 1945. James and his wife, Norma, enthusiastically accepted this remarkable opportunity, embarking for Egypt where Angela would be born. Later, they would be stationed in Israel, Ann’s birthplace. An early lesson in racial inequality occurred when Angela and her parents visited America on home leave. Her father warned her to speak only in Arabic when they went to a restaurant in the South. She recalls that instead of being ostracized by the locals for their skin color, they were welcomed heartily as “foreigners.”
In adapting to the many countries where their father worked, the two girls gained fluency in several languages, immersing themselves in cultures that ranged from the urban atmospheres of Germany, Austria, and Canada to the crowded streets and unfamiliar landscapes of Zambia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and India. Angela and a school friend once had lunch with Pablo Picasso, and Ann recalls spilling red nail polish on a white dress because a monkey jumped at her.
The narrative clearly shows that the girls were raised by determined and dedicated parents. The authors absorbed a strong moral code, pursued higher education, and both now work in fields that allow them to assist others less fortunate. They have helpfully arrayed their memoir with the aid of cartoon “portraits” to denote which of them is recounting an episode. Their book also contains letters from their father, corroborative documents, and photographs of the people they met and the atmospheres they imbibed in their thirty-five years of continual, exhilarating travel and transition. Their recollections may enhearten readers to step outside ordinary bounds and boldly go forth to embrace diverse cultures and new horizons.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
US Review of Books 