Brown, White, Black was published in February 2019 by Picador-Macmillan and a paperback version (including a new author’s note + Q&A) was published in August 2020. You can find a copy of Brown White Black wherever books are sold; you can listen to a snippet of the audiobook, read by yours truly, here.
Reviews:
Book Riot: “Brown White Black is a beautiful memoir about the blending of a family, filled with different cultures and backgrounds, defying social norms and expectations about what a “normal” family should be.”
Bustle: “A stirring portrait…Touching on issues of race, gender, sexuality, parenthood, marriage, and love, [Brown White Black is] a timely book of essays that challenges readers to examine their own understanding of identity and family.”
Buzzfeed: “This fantastic memoir is such a welcome change from the glut of motherhood narratives that have been overwhelming bookshelves lately…The honesty and clarity with which Mehra lays out how the family traverses and makes decisions around race, gender, and social structures is so refreshing to read, even if you have no interest in parenthood yourself.”
Kirkus: “Full of a wide range of insights and emotions, these essays effectively show the difficulties of being a mixed-race, same-sex family in America.”
Lambda Literary: “Mehra’s book…is a narrative that mixes a kaleidoscope of stories honoring what is both complicated and beautiful. It allows a world that is at once ephemeral, painful, and delicately raised in truth telling, and truly exemplifies Lorde’s meaning of ‘Honoring the Difficult.'”
Library Journal: “Mehra’s nuanced and thought-provoking work resonates on multiple levels—from the immigrant experience and race relations to accepting one’s sexuality, adoption, parenthood, and more. Excellent for readers interested in family and issues of identity in America.” (starred review)
New York Times Book Review: “Mehra’s prose is clear and heartfelt whether she’s writing as daughter, queer, wife, mother or teacher. ‘Freedom is a constant struggle,’ Angela Davis has said, and in this collection Mehra is unafraid to struggle for her own liberty. Readers may finish these pages a bit freer themselves.”
Publishers Weekly: “This insightful, searching book will appeal to anyone contemplating race, family, or growing into oneself.” (starred review)
The Aerogram: “Nishta Mehra has a singular voice, one that is fierce, clear, and candid. This book is another guidepost for those of us who are queer and brown and born in the United States.”