Disclaimer: This book was kindly gifted to me by Penguin Random House SA in exchange for an honest review.
More than enough tells us a story of the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and how she rose in the world of media and high fashion.
Elaine’s mother is black and her father is Irish. She grew up in the largely white middle-class suburbs of Newark, California. From childhood she knew that she “wanted to be the boss.” Elaine talks about her self-doubt and not belonging. This was addressed perfectly as at the beginning she addresses it in her childhood perspective which shifts drastically in her teenage years. When you are still young, race is not really a thing you get to realise that at a later stage and start noticing you’re different in a way. In her story, she addresses being biracial and how it did not provide her full membership among black students. It is encouraging to know that, even with the fact of feeling out of place and not fully belonging she got the part of not being worthy enough out of her life and found models who helped shaped her life. I liked how Elaine’s parents raised her and her brother, they were exposed to both cultures which I found to be really interesting as it allowed them to be aware of certain things.
Elaine’s career trajectory is such an interesting one to read because we get to see her grow from one step to another whilst learning a lot about herself and discovering her mission which is to “to celebrate diversity in a predominantly white fashion and media industry“. I absolutely loved her book and the writing style is amazing, each chapter starts with a quote which basically entails the theme of that chapter. I’d highly recommend this book, a very inspiring read.
Details
Title: More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say); Author: Elaine Welteroth; Publisher: Penguin; Genre: Memoir; Pages: 320
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