EIGHT WEEKS

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS I am in awe of the woman who grew from the child in this book The pure character necessary to grow through this dark entangled forest of childhood is the stuff of legends Bravissima LEMN SISSAY author of My Name is Why Eight Weeks is a deeply moving and inspiring memoir that tells the remarkable life story of Baroness Young of Hornsey from her childhood in foster care to becoming one of the first Black women in the House of Lords Lola Young has been an actress an academic an activist and campaigner for social justice and a crossbench peer But from the age of eight weeks to eighteen years she was moved between foster care placements and children s homes in North London It would take many decades before she was able to begin the search for answers to the long standing questions that would help her make sense of her childhood In Eight Weeks through her care records fragments of memory and her imagination where parts of her story are missing Lola assembles the pieces of her past into a portrait of a childhood in a system that often made her feel invisible and unwanted Alongside glimpses into her life as a peer activist and campaigner it tells the powerful story of her determination to defy the odds Ei