Love, Rita: An American Story of Sisterhood, Joy, Loss, and Legacy

nA searing tribute of sisterhood and family, profound love and loss from the acclaimed author of The World According to Fannie Davis.n nIn Love, Rita, Bridgett M. Davis tells the story of her beloved older sister, a vivacious woman who in leaving home to attend Fisk University and then becoming a car test driver, an amateur belly dancer, an MBA, and later a popular special ed teacher, modeled for her younger sister Bridgett how to live boldly before her own life was tragically cut short by lupus. A brave and beautiful homage that both celebrates the special, complex bond of sisterhood yet also reveals what it is to live, and die, as a Black woman in America.n n This moving memoir, full of joy and heartbreak, family history and American history, uses Rita's life as a lens to examine the persistent effects of racism in the lives of Black women--and the men they love; it is essential reading for fans of Jesmyn Ward, Kiese Laymon, James McBride, Linda Villarosa, and Tressie McMillan Cottom.n n nA searing tribute of sisterhood and family, profound love and loss from the acclaimed author of The World According to Fannie Davis.n nIn Love, Rita Bridgett M. Davis tells the story of her beloved older sister Rita, who knew Bridgett before she knew herself. Just four years apart in age, as the two sisters grew into young adulthood they left behind their childhood rivalry and became best friends.n nRita was a vivacious woman who attended Fisk University at age sixteen, and went on to become a car test driver, an amateur belly dancer, an MBA, and later a popular special ed teacher; in doing so, she modeled for her younger sister Bridgett how to live boldly. And in the face of family tragedy, the two sisters leaned on each other to heal; their closeness grew, until Rita's life was cut short by lupus when she was forty-four. This led Bridgett to ask the simple, heartbreaking question: Why Rita? n nLove, Rita is a brave and beautiful homage that not only celebrates the special, complex bond of sisterhood but also reveals what it is to live, and die, as a Black woman in America.n nThis moving memoir, full of joy and heartbreak, family history alongside American history, uses Rita's life as a lens to examine the persistent effects of racism in the lives of Black women--and the men they love. This poignant, deeply resonant portrait of an unforgettable woman n