Brown Baby is unlike any memoir I have read, it is littered with questions and answers and does not follow a traditional birth-present overview of the author. This worked perfectly with Shukla's writing style as it allowed his honesty and humour to shine through.

Brown Baby is structured in chapters that discuss how to talk about certain topics with his daughter(s), these chapters discuss race and death to feminism and climate change. Whilst there is a lot of sadness and grief, especially with regards to the death of Shukla's mother, the book is filled with hope, joy and love. There is not a single paragraph that feels superfluous and I did not want to put this down - I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Entertaining, powerful, thought-provoking memoir, an anthology of love, loss and life. Great read and highly recommended.

Brown Baby was a delight to read from start to finish and I would highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone. Nikesh's open, self-deprecating approach to telling his story is wonderfully endearing. While the book deals with some tough issues - grief, parenthood and race to name a few - it is written in an engaging, humourous and accessible style that makes the pages fly by.

Nikesh talks candidly about the death of his mother and the way that grief continues to affect him, flooring him at the most unexpected of moments. He discusses issues of race in Britain perfectly expressing the dilemma facing non-white British people who are at once entitled to claim Britishness as an identity but must contend with the reality of a Britain that never intended for them to be there. I never felt bogged down by these heavy topics though, instead I found myself nodding in solidarity at the things that resonated with me and underlining things I knew I would want to come back to in the future.

Each chapter heading is a statement Nikesh poses about raising his eldest daughter with 'How to talk to you about your skin colour' and ' How to talk to you about my mum' being just a couple of examples. And although he addresses the answers to these questions to his daughter, referring to her affectionately as Ganga throughout the book, his answers were really a way for him to work through his thoughts and experiences as a man trying to be a good human and raise his daughters without his mother there to guide him. Should Ganga ever read this book, I hope she sees the love, honesty and vulnerability Nikesh so beautifully expresses because, even as a total stranger, I was moved and his words stayed with me long after I finished reading.

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As soon as I saw Nikesh was releasing a memoir I added it straight to my wish list. I had read The Good Immigrant (edited by Nikesh Shukla) early this year and it’s one of my top reads of 2020. ⠀
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I loved the style of this memoir as it’s addressed to his daughter and talks to her about how when she grows up she will have to deal with racism, sexism and the global issue of climate change. These issues are a big concern for Nikesh and it’s equally heartwarming and heartbreaking to see him care so deeply for his daughters future and well-being. ⠀
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Nikesh also deals with grief for his mother in this book which makes the story so bitter sweet as he welcomes his daughter into the world and you can see his devotion to her but he also grieves the recent loss of his mother and how this effects him. ⠀
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Despite not having children I still found myself so connected to this book, it was filled with so much emotion and rawness, I admire Nikesh for opening up about so many of his issues in life including his relationship with food and how it consumes him. ⠀
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This is definitely a memoir I would highly recommend!