I Am Ayah: The Way Home - by Donna Hill

About the Book

"Shielding herself from the world behind the safety of her camera lens, photographer Ayah Fleming is pulled into the past when she returns home and uncovers the truth about her descendants with the help of a man who makes her long for a brighter future"--

Book Synopsis

"[A] rich and tender story of family, home and love." --Ms. Magazine

Set amid Sag Harbor's vibrant African American history, bestselling author Donna Hill weaves a stunningly rich story about finding the way home...no matter how long the journey takes.

Alessandra Fleming has spent most of her life running from her past. Her budding photography career, her life in Manhattan, all serve to distract from the secrets and guilt she's never been able to face. Then the call. Her estranged father is in the hospital...and Alessandra must return home to Sag Harbor, crumbling the first wall between her past and her present.

For some, coming home is a relief. For Alessandra, it's a reminder of the family she's lost, of the time she'll never regain. But the answers--the secrets--of her family are hidden in the house, waiting for her. And the only one who may be able to help her uncover them is her father's neighbor, Zach, who brings with him an attraction that's intense and instantaneous, yet oddly familiar.

Now Alessandra is being pulled back not only into her own complex family history, but into the richly documented lives of four extraordinary women. Generations touched by tragedy and triumph, despair and hope. And it's in these aching echoes of the past that Alessandra's own story--her mistakes and her capacity to love--will take shape, guiding her to the life she's meant to live...and the extraordinary person she will become.

About the Author

Donna Hill has published more than seventy books spanning a long career. She is an Essence bestselling author and recipient of multiple awards, such as: The RT Career Achievement Award, the Gold Pen Award, The Trailblazer Award, and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award. She is an editor of novels and two award-winning anthologies. She is currently in a PhD program but received her MFAW in Creative Writing from Goddard College. She is a proud single mother and grandmother who gives back to the community and is known as a pioneer of black romance novels.