'An engrossing urgent and entertaining read. I couldn't put it down' Roddy
Doyle______Marguerite Penrose's is an extraordinary story of making a great life from
complicated beginnings. Marguerite was born in a Dublin mother-and-baby home in 1974 the
daughter of an Irish mother and a Zambian father. Severe scoliosis indicated a future of
difficult medical procedures. She was a little girl who needed a break. And she got it at three
when she was fostered - and later adopted - by a young couple Mick and Noeline and acquired a
mam dad sister Ciara and loving extended family. Growing up Marguerite's appearance was
occasionally remarked on by strangers but it wasn't until her teens that she understood that
her skin colour was a provocation for some. The progressive city that she knew was revealed to
have an unpleasant undercurrent. So she became an expert in shaping her life around anything
that marked her out as 'different'.Marguerite's story is one of facing some big questions - Who
am I? How do I live in world made for people with bodies different to mine? Why does anyone
care about my skin colour? - with intelligence humour courage and common-sense. She writes
about coming to terms with the circumstances of her birth and like so many in her position
looking for answers. About navigating the world as an active woman with a disability. About
what it means to be both Irish and Black particularly at a moment when the conversation is
becoming mainstream in Ireland and she is thinking about it in new ways herself. Mostly she
writes about embracing life in a spirit of openness and positivity.Yeah But Where Are You
Really From? is a captivating wise and inspiring memoir by a truly remarkable
woman.___________'Beautiful moving tender and informative' SINÉAD MORIARTY'Wonderful' MIRIAM
O'CALLAGHAN
