Otegha Uwagba and her family came to the UK as an immigrant family and lived in a borrowed flat on an estate in South London until they were re-housed by the local authority. Her memoire details all the ways in which her upbringing and early experiences coloured her attitude to money which impacted resoundingly on her life.

She details how she won a scholarship to a private school and her experiences at Oxford and her dreams and aspirations of being a successful professional, as well as her experiences of being black and her attempts to change her appearance so as to conform to the usual ideal of ‘beauty’, i.e long, straight hair.

To be absolutely fair my description of the book goes nowhere near to detailing how complex, interesting or fascinating it is. I floundered over some of the more complex constructs with quite sophisticated ideas or explanations that I am unfamiliar with. That said, it gave me plenty of food for thought and I am very glad to have read it.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

*3.5 stars *

Imagine as a mum, leaving all you’ve ever known behind, and starting a new life in a strange country with three young children - your husband still in Nigeria, to follow later. This is how it was for Otegha Uwagba’s mum. Leaving sunny Nigeria, for a grey depressing London - grey weather, grey buildings everywhere, to new customs and cultures, in a class obsessed society - trying to find work and lodgings, discovering how everything works. This was a family that had love in abundance, but were not so secure financially. So, right from a young age, Otegha was aware of the importance of money, and the need to manage one’s finances.

Though the family was of modest means, one thing they did have plenty of, was books - books of every description, along with educational visits to museums and galleries, as Otegha’s parents were both educated to degree standard, they wanted the same for their children, and Otegha being an exceptionally gifted child, gained a scholarship to a private school, with a prized place at Oxford to follow.

This is a searingly honest and personal memoir, about how money (or the lack of it) affects lives, and it also gives an insight into office politics, highlighting issues such as ‘lads’ culture, race and gender, and how all these issues can affect your promotional prospects, and therefore potential earnings. Interesting read.

4.5 stars!

What a wonderful memoir. Otegha tells the story of her life around her money memories: from being the scholarship kid in a private school to the class differences at Oxford, being a Millenial woman in the workplace, and affording to buy your first home in London. It's a confronting exploration of our relationship with money, of how race impacts your financial situation, and of how money can sometimes ruin relationships. I couldn't stop reading it, I learned so much from it!

We Need to Talk About Money is a personal memoir about money, as the title suggests, but also class, race, and gender, as Otegha Uwagba explores how has impacted her life so far. From her parents moving to the UK and her getting a scholarship to a private school to the current housing market and how to afford to buy a house without having parental help, the book covers a lot of stories about topics like toxic workplaces, beauty, and friendships, and how money affects these.

This book is combination of personal memoir and reflection on things relating to money and privilege in society, especially in relation to gender and race. A lot of the anecdotes and experiences are very interesting (for example, as someone slightly younger than the author who got into Mad Men but thankfully wasn't at the stage to want to therefore go into advertising, I enjoyed the insight about how bad it actually can be to work in advertising) and it is well-written, feeling both personal and also informative. There was also some engaging discussions and critiques of particular issues like 'girlboss' culture and how the term 'emotional labour' has come to be used which were nuanced and focused on things like intersectionality and the effects of capitalism and how we view it.

One thing that did throw me out of the narrative a bit was the fact that one of the chapters quotes Naomi Wolf a lot, and seeing as she's now particularly known for sharing a lot of pandemic conspiracy theories and having huge interpretive gaps in her recent book, that did put me off the chapter in question. Otherwise the book is also useful for the fact it does cite and discuss some famous writers like Kimberlé Crenshaw, meaning that despite perhaps seeming at first to just be about money in the modern world, it also provides people with some further reading on areas around topics like feminism, race, and class.

A memoir about how money rules individual lives, We Need to Talk About Money is an engaging book that questions the secrecy and shame that can surround talking about it. As the title suggests, it's more about opening up discussions and sharing a personal take on money rather than offering any deep answers or critiques, making it perfect for people who like more personal non-fiction.