I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is part one of seven of Maya Angelou's autobiography. Maya Angelou also published several books of essays and poetry, and was notably a civil rights activist whose most famous work, the book in question, has been studied as a canonical text around the world. The memoir tells the story of her life up until the age of seventeen, and the following six books continue her autobiography from there. As a child, Angelou was sent by her mother to live with her reverent grandmother in a rural town called Stamps in Arkansas, along with her brother Bailey, following their parents' divorce. When Maya was eight years old and her brother nine years old, her father returned to take them to live with their mother in St. Louis.

As opposed to her thriving at school in Arkansas, where herself and her brother were far ahead of the curriculum and spent their spare time devouring books and going to church, Maya found herself feeling completely lost in St. Louis. She was horrifically abused by her mother's boyfriend, which is an extremely harrowing portion of the memoir, and lives with the guilt of his eventual arrest and subsequent death, believing it to be her fault. At such a young age and unused to a consistent father figure, this tragic time in her life only deepened her mistrust. Once she recovered, she returned to Arkansas and back to a loving home with her grandmother, only to realise that the prospects offered to her and her brother were extremely limited, despite their successful education. 

This is a beautifully-written and heart-wrenching book, made all the more poignant as you know you are reading about true events. Angelou writes her experiences from the perspective of her younger self - despite having her years of wisdom behind her when the book was written, she tells the tale very much as it was experienced at the time. This childlike quality really strikes a chord, particularly in the distressing moments, as her naïvety caused her to blame all of her misfortune on herself. She was thrown into the unfamiliar city of St. Louis and exposed to the racism that was prevalent at the time there, having grown up in an accepting and comfortable community, and this is really heartbreaking to follow. There are moments of tenderness, love and humour which make this such an enjoyable read, and the interspersed misfortune brings you back down to earth and presents a raw and devastating reality. The scenes of sexual abuse are delicately written, but giving enough information to turn your stomach and incite real anger. If you haven’t read this, I will say it definitely comes with a trigger warning.

In all, this is a brilliant book which deals with race, class, abuse and identity whilst telling the tale of an inspiring and widely celebrated person. I would encourage everyone, young or old, to engage with it!