All That's Unseen

This is the best memoir I've read in years. Growing up in the coalfields of southwest Virginia, Emilee Hackney was raised in a Pentecostal church where her future seemed all but predetermined. That future very nearly became marriage to a man who would later land himself in jail. Instead, on a whim, she took a chance that eventually took her to Harvard, but not before she had to untangle herself from the world that shaped her.

What makes this memoir so compelling isn't the remarkable trajectory of her life; it's the generosity with which she looks back. Hackney vividly recounts her childhood and adolescence, reckoning with the faith, family, and community that formed her and working to understand them with honesty rather than resentment.

This one will stick with you. Don't miss it.