I never liked to read because I thought all books were horrible like what we read in school. However, in ninth grade when I read Maya Angelou’s first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I was intrigued by the way she talked about her life. Her autobiography includes The Heart of a Woman, which is the fourth of six volumes and it is outstanding. There is contentment and sadness, grief and joy, just like in her first volume.

Before reading this book I advise you to read the previous three or at least the first, or you will be completely lost.

The Heart of a Woman is about Angelou when she is in her early 30s. Her life was chaotic as a singer-dancer living in New York City. She wrote for the Harlem Writers Guild and was a coordinator for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement. Along her journey she meets Billie Holiday, Malcolm X, and Dr. King.

This book deserves four thumbs up for the way Angelou describes her life. It could be easily read in a couple of days. It would appeal to men and women in different stages of life. Its central themes are the joys and burdens of being a black mother in America as the son she had at 16 finally grows into a man.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the racial problems that the U.S. had and is still having since Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s time.