Maya Angelou's third book is just like the first two: perfect. No matter what comes out of this woman's mind it comes out with a beauty that can't be replicated by anyone else. This book covers her marriage where she got the name "Angelos" and subsequently how her stage name Maya Angelou came to be. She chronicles her ride through the entertainment industry from a burlesque performer to a touring opera dancer. Her short marriage and the small section she dedicates to it perfectly sums up the struggles of a one sided marriage. She marries a white man which brings judgement on her and her husband from everyone from strangers to family. She struggles herself with her own feelings of betrayal towards her own race which she sees as so beautiful and white folks whom she finds so ugly. She also comes to realize how indispensable religion is in her life. After joining a touring production of Porgy and Bess she begins to travel the world performing. I absolutely adore Porgy and Bess and had no idea she performed with a large touring theater company doing one of my favorite shows. The way she details her relationships with the other members of the show and foreigners along the way is just so captivating and beautiful like everything she writes. Her constant despair at having to be away from her son is tugging at her the entire time and is effectively left in the back of the readers mind as it must have haunted hers. Her relationship with her son and the work she puts into it is a struggle any parent will absolutely love reading. Overall the settings of the book are spectacular, the characters are hard to not fall in love with (you truly feel the love she must have felt for all of them in your own heart) and the book feels like a much needed sigh of relief after the tragedies of the previous books. Between the pages of this book Maya Angelou really grows into the brilliant woman she was for the rest of her life. She was a gift to us all and these books are her brilliant legacy.
