Something Like Beautiful: One Single Mother's Story

“asha bandele has a poignant story to share in Something Like Beautiful. It is the love that comes through that makes this such a compelling tale.”
—Nikki Giovanni

Award-winning journalist, and author of The Prisoner’s Wife and Daughter, and performance poet featured on HBO’S Def Poetry Jam, asha bandele once again writes from the heart in her lyrical and intimate memoir Something Like Beautiful—a moving story of love, loss, motherhood, and survival. Sharing the story of her struggles as a single black mother in New York City and her tragically self-destructive near-breakdown, asha bears her soul in a book Rebecca Walker, author of Baby Love, calls “courageous, profound, and achingly beautiful.”

From the author of The Prisoner's Wife, a poetic, passionate, and powerful memoir about the hard realities of single motherhood

When Asha Bandele, a young poet, fell in love with a prisoner serving a twenty-to-life sentence and became pregnant with his daughter, she had reason to hope they would live together as a family. Rashid was a model prisoner, and expected to be paroled soon. But soon after Nisa was born, Asha's dreams were shattered. Rashid was denied parole, and told he'd be deported to his native Guyana once released. Asha became a statistic: a single, black mother in New York City.

On the outside, Asha kept it together. She had a great job at a high-profile magazine and a beautiful daughter whom she adored. But inside, she was falling apart. She began drinking and smoking and eventually stumbled into another relationship, one that opened new wounds. This lyrical, astonishingly honest memoir tells of her descent into depression when her life should have been filled with love and joy. Something Like Beautiful is not only Asha's story, but the story of thousands of women who struggle daily with little help and much against them, and who believe they have no right to acknowledge their pain. Ultimately, drawing inspiration from her daughter, Asha takes account of her life and envisions for herself what she believes is possible for all mothers who thought there was no way out—and then discovered there was.

Praise for THE PRISONER’S WIFE: “asha bandele tells the story of a love that flourishes in the constricted space between freedom and captivity. This is a powerul and provocative book-- everyone should read it.” - Angela Y. Davis

Praise for THE PRISONER’S WIFE: “The Prisoner’s Wife echoes Edwidge Danticat’s Farming of the Bones in the urgency in which it reminds us of the possibility of love even amidst the ruins. This is a terrifying, heart-breaking and, ultimately, important book.” - Junot Diaz

Praise for THE PRISONER’S WIFE: “[bandele’s] writing soars with emotion. And the reader’s emotions soar as well, not because of shared experience but because her highly polished and skillful writing makes one feel her pain and joy.” - Booklist (starred review)

Praise for THE PRISONER’S WIFE: “Haunting, intense, emotional... mesmerizing and disconcerting, offering insights into why caged birds sing.” - Kirkus Reviews

“We should all be blessed with the intellect and insight bandele brings to motherhood—the struggles, the joys, the fears, and the hope. Indeed, this is a fine portrait of what it means to be a single mom—a mom, period—in America.” - Denene Millner, Reality Check columnist, Parenting magazine

“asha bandele tells the truth. Courageous, profound, and achingly beautiful, asha delivers her art, soul, and passion once more. I could read her work for days, get lost in it, find myself in it. The world is a better place because asha bandele has transformed pain into something like beautiful and proves that you can, too.” - Rebecca Walker, author of Baby Love

“Once again asha bandele has a poignant story to share in Something Like Beautiful. It is the love that comes through that makes this such a compelling tale.” - Nikki Giovanni

“Like her powerful and poetic writing in Essence, asha bandele’s Something Like Beautiful takes straight aim for the heart. Having been a single mother myself, I connected intimately with her astonishing insight into the complexities and challenges of parenting solo. Her honesty is cathartic and healing. This is a book not just to read, but to live with, ponder and treasure.” - Susan Taylor, Essence Editor-in-Chief Emeritus and Founder, National Cares Mentoring Movement