Finding Me: A Memoir

Finding Me is a deeply personal memoir that details Davis’s journey from a poverty-ridden childhood in Rhode Island to global success as an internationally acclaimed movie star. However, it is intended for a larger audience than just those who are familiar with Davis’s work as an actor, as it provides a commentary on the different ways in which one’s racial background contributes to and influences not only one’s identity and sense of self-worth but also one’s socioeconomic circumstances.

In her first-person narrative, Davis recounts, mostly in chronological order, the story of her life: her parents and their backgrounds, the births of her siblings, her own birth, her childhood and upbringing, and her journey to reach eventual success and fame. Anecdotes from her life are interwoven with reflections on life lessons and the insights they provided, and the theme of race is important throughout. The maternal side of Davis’s family hails from a plantation in South Carolina, and this detail immediately directs the reader to the trauma of slavery that haunts Davis’s family history. Though neither she nor her parents experience this particular trauma, their respective childhoods are deeply impacted by the aftereffects of slavery and racism, in both overt and indirect ways.