Book Description
With heart, humor, and razor-sharp observation, this intimate and incisive memoir traces the journey of a Black, queer woman as she searches the world for a place of security and acceptance to call home
I’ve never seen home as a permanent concept; it is an image crafted from untempered glass that threatens to shatter with lack of care.
Jennifer Neal was born in the United States to a family that moved continuously for their own survival and well-being—from the Great Migration to the twenty-first century. As an adult, she has continued to travel the world as a Black queer woman, across two decades and four countries—from Japan to the US and then Australia to Germany, where she has settled for now.
Throughout her moves, Neal threads her personal story of immigration with local Black histories and racial politics to provide context for her own experiences. The result is both a crucial examination of how racism plays a foundational role in modern-day immigration systems and a tender tribute to immigrants and their stories.
An unwavering interrogation of colonialism and policy, love and loss, hypocrisy and resistance, My Pisces Heart demands meaningful conversation about not only the ways in which we live with our histories, but also how they live through us—urging an honest dialogue on why the West continues to grapple with its past and visualize its future.
Praise For This Book
"This is both a gorgeously written memoir of a life well-traveled, and a deeply researched inquiry into the ways that race, gender, sexuality, and history inform one’s ability to move about the world at all." —James Factora, them"These reminiscences open up into discussions of the difficulties she faced in each place as a Black woman, interwoven with impressively-researched histories of Blackness, racism and the various solidarities that the marginalised manage to form." —Mathilde Montpetit, The Berliner
"Neal is both a lyrical writer and an astute historian, studying the complexities of race and Blackness with tenderness and reverence . . . [She] proves that Black people exist everywhere and, in many cases, always have. In an age when we can see the devastating impacts of colonialism on devices in the palms of our hands, My Pisces Heart is an essential read for anyone curious about cultural differences and eager to explore what it means to be in solidarity with those oppressed across the globe." —Natalia Berry, BookPage (starred review)
"A detailed, nuanced, researched, historically important account of systemic racism in the many places the author has sought to make a home. This relatable, important book stretches readers' understanding of nationalism into globalism and of home into a complex concept for those whose homes create racialized harm . . . Readers of Neal's book will be challenged in the best of ways." —Booklist (starred review)
"[Neal's] questing narrative is driven by this powerful point: 'Black life enriches every corner of the world. More importantly, Black life deserves to exist in any part of the world, for no reason whatsoever . . .' a welcome and fresh perspective on global travel." —Kirkus Reviews
“Jennifer Neal’s My Pisces Heart is a lucid account of a life lived in, and amidst, the world. Beginning with the rich and under-narrated history of African American migration in the US and traveling outward to Asia, Europe and Australia, this book—like the best travel narratives—is curious, rich and transporting.” —Zinzi Clemmons, author of What We Lose
"This is a captivating and unflinchingly honest account of the highs and lows of being a black woman out in the world, coupled with a detailed history of the many global perceptions of race that is both eye-opening and informative. As a black woman who has also lived and worked in Asia, Australia and Europe, so many of Neal’s observations resonate deeply." —Fiona Williams, author of The House of Broken Bricks
"My Pisces Heart is a much-needed excavation of what it means to be a migrant of colour in our present world. Jennifer Neal offers a masterclass in politically-engaged memoir: rarely have I encountered a book so nuanced, gracefully entwining deep research with lived experience. Whether you live life in motion or stay put, this book is essential reading." —Jessica J. Lee, author of Dispersals
"A vital and gripping voice on migration, displacement and home. And a propulsive, thoughtful memoir from a fascinating life. I couldn't stop reading it!" —Dina Nayeri, author of Who Gets Believed? and The Ungrateful Refugee
“My Pisces Heart is an instant travel classic, an essential chronicle of migration and, above all, an absolute joy to read. It’s required reading for anyone looking to re-create themselves in this precarious new age, as Neal does time and again—with the rigor of an academic and the palette of a poet.” —Monica Byrne, author of The Actual Star
