Gather Together In My Name (Angelou Maya); Virago, 2008

Maya Angelou's seven volumes of autobiography are a testament to the talents and resilience of this extraordinary writer. Though fiercely loving the world, as a black woman, she also knows its cruelty. Angelou has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration.

In the sequel to her bestselling I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou is a young mother in California, unemployed, embarking on brief affairs and transient jobs in shops and nightclubs, turning to prostitution and the world of narcotics. Maya Angelou powerfully captures the struggles and triumphs of her passionate life with dignity, wisdom, humour and humanity.