I admit I knew nothing about this before I started. I didn't even know it was an autobiography until after I was finished. Maybe I would have read it in a different light. The subject matter was more painful than I was anticipating. Honestly, maybe I wouldn't have read it if I knew. Some of it was a bit too familiar. But the book was honest, beautifully written, and did a great job at painting a picture of her childhood. I understand it was an important book when it came out in 1969 - especially when it talks so directly about racial prejudice and sexual assault. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but apparently this is just the first in a series of autobiographies.