BOOK NOOK: Maya Angelou’s 'The Heart of a Woman'

I fell in love with Maya Angelou when I first heard her recite “Phenomenal Woman”, a poem is celebration of women, and how confidence can make even the plainest of women make men turn heads.

She was reciting the poem in a poetry recitation CD compiled by Oprah to celebrate women.

Sample a few lines that made me fall in love with Maya’s writing;
Men themselves have wondered/What they see in me/They try so much/But they can’t touch/My inner mystery.

I listened to the CD over and over in my car, until it got too scratched and tired, that is.

Then I bumped into I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in one of those open-air street "bookshops" and was completely hooked. So much so that I've read nearly all her books and mourned her when she died like I had lost a close friend.

The Heart of a Woman is the fourth volume of her autobiographies, and is preceded by I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,Gather Together In My Name and Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas, all beautiful , poetic accounts of her life.

She tells the story of her colourful life with the humour, grace and acceptance of imperfection that only she can. Like the title insinuates, she goes right into the heart of her “woman”: From romantic love, maternal love, heartbreak, domestic violence, racial discrimination, gender discrimination- No subject is taboo for this witty writer.

Her accounts of meeting famous characters like Billie Holiday, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X make for refreshing, interesting personal accounts of historical figures that the world adored.

The simple, conversational tone, a trademark of Maya’s writing, makes for an easy, down to earth read that men and women alike can relate to.