Fearless and Free

This is the iconic Josephine Baker in her own words. Funny, candid and unconventional: the wildly famous but elusive Josephine Baker tells her own story in this enchanting memoir. Baker took Paris by storm in the 1920s, dazzling audiences with her humour, beauty and effervescence on stage. She became an icon. Later, as one of the most recognisable women in the world, she became a spy for the French resistance and was awarded the Légion d'honneur for military service. After the war she became a civil rights activist, and in 1963 she spoke at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. All this from a girl of mixed heritage, born in Missouri to a poor mother and a father she did not know. Formed from a series of conversations with the French journalist Marcel Sauvage over a period of more than twenty years, and now translated into English for the first time, this gorgeous book offers an insight into one of the most beguiling figures of the twentieth century. 'Translated gorgeously into English... A delightful, nourishing read' Guardian 'She was a beacon of joy and fellowship and her smile...reaches out to us across the years' Financial Times 'Josephine Baker certainly shook things up. This memoir demonstrates - vividly - the pleasure she took in doing it' Washington Post WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY IJEOMA OLUO TRANSLATED BY ANAM ZAFAR AND SOPHIE LEWIS

Josephine Baker (Author) Josephine Baker was born in 1906, in St Louis, Missouri. After performing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance as a teenager, she sailed to Paris in 1925 at the age of 19. She can became a star there during the 20s, achieving international celebrity. In 1927 she became the first black woman to star in a major motion picture. When the Second World War broke out Baker joined the French intelligence agency and was awarded for her bravery. During the 50s and 60s she became involved in the civil rights movement - in 1963 she spoke at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. In later life she adopted twelve children. Baker died in 1975. Sophie Lewis (Translator) Sophie Lewis translates from French and Portuguese. She has translated books by Jules Verne, Marcel Aymé, Violette Leduc, Emmanuelle Pagano, Stendhal and João Gilberto Noll.