What We Lose Book Review

Last updated on October 6, 2020

Zinzi Clemmons writes about love and loss in What We Lose. We catch glimpses of the ways that the coloured South African identity of her mother and the African American/Black Identity of her father entwined to create her identity and her perspective on the world.

I wanted to read this book because I’ve been trying to learn more about the experience of being Black around the world. I use the term Black even though it’s not a universally used term. For example in South America, Puerto Rico, Canada, Sudan, the word has different embedded meanings.

This book is less about generalizing the experience of Black people but more the presentation or one family with glimpses into the broader context. I accept that individual stories are as important as stories about systems.

What We Lose touched me on several levels. With the death of my grandmother some years back, I feel her absence every day; the void of which Zinzi speaks is in my too even though we’ve lost different relations. I find the depth of loss is less about the title of the relationship than its strength.

Final thoughts on What We Lose

It finished reading this book in less than four hours. It’s a quick read even though it explores some big themes. Through the lens of Zinzi’s relationships, we encounter romantic love, friendship, family. You may see yourself or someone you love reflected here.

It’s easy to ask the question why, to question people’s motives and choices, to dissect someone else’s life. Ideally, even optimistically, we can learn some lessons we can apply to our own life.

I highly recommend this book.