In Every Mirror She's Black
Sweden

In Every Mirror She's Black

by Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström

Women & Society Literary Fiction 2021

Summary

Three Black women arrive in Stockholm, each hoping to build a better life, only to discover that the city’s reputation for equality conceals complicated realities of racism, privilege, and belonging.

Kemi Adeyemi is a successful Nigerian American marketing executive recruited to help repair the reputation of a powerful Swedish company. Brittany-Rae Johnson, a Jamaican American former model turned flight attendant, finds herself drawn into a glamorous but unsettling relationship with the company’s wealthy CEO. Meanwhile, Muna Saheed, a Somali refugee who has lost her family, works as a cleaner while searching for security, connection, and a place to call home.

Although their backgrounds and ambitions differ, their lives become intertwined through the same influential man. As each woman navigates the contradictions of Swedish society, she must confront the expectations imposed on her because of her race, gender, and social position. Through their intersecting stories, Åkerström explores the complexities of Black womanhood, the fetishization of Black women, workplace discrimination, and the difference between being welcomed into a society and truly belonging.

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About the author
Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström
Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström

Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström is a Nigerian-American author, award-winning travel photographer, and storyteller based in Stockholm, Sweden. Originally from Nigeria, she moved to the United States as a teenager and later relocated to Sweden. She studied information systems and worked in geographic information systems before pursuing a creative career in writing, photography, and travel storytelling. Her work has appeared in prominent publications including National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, the BBC, and CNN. She is also the author of the bestselling nonfiction book LAGOM: The Swedish Secret of Living Well and the award-winning travel book Due North. Åkerström made her fiction debut with In Every Mirror She’s Black (2021), a novel following three Black women navigating identity, race, belonging, and social expectations in Sweden. Her subsequent novel, Everything Is Not Enough (2023), continues to explore the complexities of contemporary life, relationships, and cultural identity. Through her writing and photography, she examines how culture, place, and personal experience shape the ways people understand themselves and others.

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Details
Published
2021
Author
Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström