Description

‘In its exploration of geographical, racial and cultural dislocation, Sugar and Slate is in the finest tradition of work to have emerged from the black diaspora in recent times’ Gary Younge, Guardian

A powerful, radiant memoir from writer Charlotte Williams exploring the intertwined history of Wales, Africa and the Caribbean

The daughter of a white Welsh-speaking mother and a Black father from Guyana, Charlotte Williams’ childhood world was one of mixed messages, dominated by the feeling that ‘somehow to be half Welsh and half Afro-Caribbean was always to be half of something but never quite anything whole at all’.

Sugar and Slate tells the fascinating story of her journey of self-discovery, toing and froing between the small north Wales town where she grew up, Africa and the Caribbean. Blending memoir with historical research, Sugar and Slate delves deep into Black Welsh history, revealing the nation as home to one of the first interracial marriages in Britain in 1768, and a site of Britain’s first major race riots in 1919.

Powerful, lyrical and intimate, Williams’ experience casts light on Wales and Welshness, illuminating what it is to be racially marginalized within a community, which is itself marginalized within Britain, and offering a unique insight into the complex Black history of Wales.

A title in the Black Britain: Writing Back series – selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.

Publisher Review

An engaging and perceptive voice describing an engrossing and particular personal story -- Gary Younge * Guardian * Warmly recommended to any curious minds, at 20 years old Sugar and Slate still speaks to us in these modern times, helping to ensure marginal voices remain heard * buzzmag * I loved this book . . . Williams pushes us to ask what 'Welsh' means, what Guyanese means, as much as her luminous words and intricate structure force a deeper understanding of 'classic' * Nation Cymru * In this moving and thought-provoking book, Charlotte Williams demonstrates how global histories impact our most intimate spaces and acts. Linking the histories of Africa, South America and rural Wales, it is an unforgettable account of a search for belonging and identity -- S. I. Martin Charlotte's observations and descriptions in Sugar and Slate are highly original and her writing nothing less than brilliant * Caribbean Review * An imaginative expansion of the autobiographical form * New Welsh Review *