The Bootlegger's Daughter

Book excerpt: I was raised in a café my first years of living. My father’s brother and his wife raised me on their own. There was bootlegging, gambling, police raids, and people put in jail. I didn’t get to church very much, but there were older women around who looked out for me the best they could. I was molested, burned with a cig, and drunk by the time I was eight. I picked a little cotton as time went on. I became a businesswoman, and an addict of crack cocaine and drank heavily. I had a child at fourteen, she had one at thirteen, and so I was a grandmother at twenty-eight. But I loved learning. God and books turned my life around. To me, no matter what you go through, you can overcome it. Don’t let your pride hold you back. There is a power greater than all of us, who is willing and will to help you. Keep the faith; if I did it, so can you. In reading this book, it will show you that we all go through something. Most importantly, love yourself. My title is a very true story. I hope that by reading this book, it will help you. Now we have drug dealers, then, in my day, we had booze.