The wait is finally over as Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené’s highly anticipated inspirational guide to life for young black women, SLAY IN YOUR LANE, is out today in hardback from Fourth Estate. Celebrating the achievements of black British women, SLAY IN YOUR LANE encourages readers to make lemonade out of lemons and find success in their careers, relationships, and in their lives.
In the run-up to publication, SLAY IN YOUR LANE, has been included in multiple best of lists, including The Observer’s ‘18 for 2018’, Elle’s ‘12 addictive books you have to read to get through in 2018’, Metro’s ‘best new books in 2018’ and the BBC’s ‘hotly anticipated debut authors for 2018’. Mostly Lit’s Clarissa Pabi called it ‘a book I can genuinely say I've been waiting for’, and The Bookseller praise it as ‘a valuable framework to help navigate the murky world of working – and existing – while black and female’.
“Black women today are well past making waves we’re currently creating something of a tsunami. Women who look like us, grew up in similar places to us, talk like us, are shaping almost every sector of society.”
From education to work to dating, this inspirational, honest and provocative book recognises and celebrates the strides black women have already made, while providing practical advice for those who want to do the same and forge a better, visible future.
Illustrated with stories from best friends Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke’s own lives, and using interviews with dozens of the most successful black women in Britain including BAFTA Award-winning director Amma Asante, British Vogue publisher Vanessa Kingori and Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis, SLAY IN YOUR LANE is essential reading for a generation of black women inspired to find success in every area of their lives.
SLAY IN YOUR LANE will be Book of the Week next week (starting 9th July), on BBC Radio 4. You can read an interview with Yomi and Elizabeth and an extract from the book in The Times, here, and in The Observer, here.
Yomi Adegoke is an award-winning journalist and senior writer at The Pool. She writes about race, feminism, popular culture and how they intersect, as well as class and politics. In 2013 she founded Birthday Magazine, a publication aimed at black teenage girls, and this year was listed as one of the 200 Women Redefining the Creative Industry by The Dots. She was also named as a 'frontline pioneer' bringing the fight to 'a new generation', by the Evening Standard.
Elizabeth Uviebinené is a Brand Marketer from London; upon graduating from Warwick University with a Politics degree she has gone on to work for some of the biggest global brands in Finance, and was promoted to a Marketing Manager.
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Praise for SLAY IN YOUR LANE:
‘Hotly-anticipated… Best friends Yomi and Elizabeth decided to write the book because they realised there was a huge gap in the market - these were the stories they wanted to read about, so they decided to write it themselves. They also scatter in anecdotes from their own lives in their bid to tackle the challenges facing black women today, and plenty of advice.’ — Lauren Turner, BBC, Books look ahead 2018
‘In SLAY IN YOUR LANE, Adegoke and Uviebinene have created a valuable framework to help navigate the murky world of working – and existing – while black and female. It puts into words the amorphous, intangible feelings we walk around with and counters them with inspirational stories from industry leaders.’ — The Bookseller
‘What better choice for a summer read than this inspirational guide to life for the modern British black woman, promising to help you “make lemonade out of lemons, and find success in every area of your life”.’ — Elle, 12 Addictive Books You Have To Read To Get Through 2018
‘Quite literally a bible, this is the quintessential black woman’s guide to life for a generation of British women ‘inspired to make Lemonade out of lemons.’ Read Adegoke’s wisdom-filled essays on work, dating, beauty, representation, money, education and health and how being black and female affects each of these.’ — Melan Mag, Best titles by BME authors 2018
‘An inspiring read’ — Phoebe Hurst, The Pool
‘We could not put it down after reading the first page… a true insight into being a black woman in today’s Britain’ — BLACK BEAUTY MAGAZINE
‘As a young black British woman and an avid reader of books on personal development and success, this is a book I can genuinely say I've been waiting for, from at least when I discovered the genre a decade ago. I suspect many others have been waiting even longer, too…representative, thought-provoking, honest, humorous and inspirational. It recognises the waves and tsunamis black British women have already made, whilst providing practical advice and inspiration for slaying and succeeding even further, in your own way.’ — Clarissa Pabi, Waterstones Blog, Mostly Lit’s Must Reads
‘SLAY IN YOUR LANE is the black girl bible — an indispensable guide to living today…it’s provocative, uplifting, timely and important.’ — Netgalley, Top 10 Pick for July