The New York Times Book Review - Bunmi Laditan
[Clarke's] book is a moving account of a woman who finally finds out who she is.
Publishers Weekly
11/25/2013
Chronicling a few of the critical moments of her life, Clarke, a journalist and the host of the Black Business Report, wrote this sensitive memoir of identity and self-discovery, as an adopted person seeking to find her birth mother after a list of health woes forced her to uncover her genetic heritage despite the wall of adoption agency secrecy. Currently married to the son of a prominent businessman, she investigates her origins following the revelation that she was adopted almost 30 years earlier. The clues come fast and furious, until the final realization that she is the daughter of Carole “Cookie” Cole, the oldest daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole. The book reaches an emotional peak when Clarke calls her birth mother for the first time, laying the foundation of a tightly knit relationship that would develop over the course of many postcards, letters, and e-mails. Like an onion being peeled, Cookie and Clarke trade secrets, insecurities, trials and triumphs throughout this splendid, soul-baring memoir, aware of the past but building toward a future together. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
A moving account of a woman who finally finds out who she is.” — New York Times Book Review
“Page after elegant, funny, and poignant page, Postcards from Cookie astounds. The power of Clarke’s writing is matched by the complex and remarkable relationship between two extraordinary and unforgettable women.” — Essence
“A sensitive memoir of identity and self-discovery. . . . Splendid, soul-baring.” — Publishers Weekly
“Downright riveting. . . . Read it.” — Ebony
“A loving . . . account of the enduring power of family love.” — Booklist (starred review)
“The exchange of postcards, phone calls and emails between mother and daughter are moving, and Clarke’s capacity for forgiveness is real.” — Juicy
“Caroline Clarke has written more than a memoir. Postcards from Cookie is an iconic portrait of a singular American family— complete with celebrity and wealth, secrets and lies, heart pounding loss and hard-earned, often uneasy, love.” — Veronica Chambers, author of Mama's Girl
“Clarke’s prose is elegant, crisp and deeply personal, and her narration is gripping. . . . Clarke effectively explores her crisis of identity by peeling back layer after layer of a complex, riveting personal history. . . . A captivating memoir.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Caroline Clarke has written more than a memoir. Postcards from Cookie is an iconic portrait of a singular American family — complete with celebrity and wealth, secrets and lies, heart pounding loss and hard-earned, often uneasy, love. This is a read-in-one-sitting book then buy five copies for friends book. It is to quote the great Nat King Cole, a central character in this tale, ‘unforgettable.’” — Veronica Chambers, author of Mama's Girl
“I’m excited to add Postcards from Cookie to the bookshelves at my restaurant, the Red Rooster. This stunning memoir is so emblematic of the love and joy I see in our patrons every day; a never-ending story about family, friendship, love and history. It’s as American as fried chicken, mac and greens. This book is soulful—and delicious.” — Marcus Samuelsson, co-owner of the Red Rooster in Harlem and award-winning author of Yes, Chef
“No, seriously - you’re going to want to read this book because Postcards from Cookie will send you away satisfied.” — Long Island Pulse
“Their journey of reunion is captured with sensitivity, as Caroline describes all the anxieties (including those of her adopted parents) in this touching diary which reveals the joys and sorrows of adoption.” — Iron Mountain Daily News
“A ‘must read’ novel-like memoir.” — Black Enterprise
Essence
Page after elegant, funny, and poignant page, Postcards from Cookie astounds. The power of Clarke’s writing is matched by the complex and remarkable relationship between two extraordinary and unforgettable women.
Veronica Chambers
Caroline Clarke has written more than a memoir. Postcards from Cookie is an iconic portrait of a singular American family— complete with celebrity and wealth, secrets and lies, heart pounding loss and hard-earned, often uneasy, love.
Juicy
The exchange of postcards, phone calls and emails between mother and daughter are moving, and Clarke’s capacity for forgiveness is real.
Marcus Samuelsson
I’m excited to add Postcards from Cookie to the bookshelves at my restaurant, the Red Rooster. This stunning memoir is so emblematic of the love and joy I see in our patrons every day; a never-ending story about family, friendship, love and history. It’s as American as fried chicken, mac and greens. This book is soulful—and delicious.
Ebony
Downright riveting. . . . Read it.
Booklist (starred review)
A loving . . . account of the enduring power of family love.
New York Times Book Review
A moving account of a woman who finally finds out who she is.
Essence
Page after elegant, funny, and poignant page, Postcards from Cookie astounds. The power of Clarke’s writing is matched by the complex and remarkable relationship between two extraordinary and unforgettable women.
Black Enterprise
A ‘must read’ novel-like memoir.
Iron Mountain Daily News
Their journey of reunion is captured with sensitivity, as Caroline describes all the anxieties (including those of her adopted parents) in this touching diary which reveals the joys and sorrows of adoption.
Long Island Pulse
No, seriously - you’re going to want to read this book because Postcards from Cookie will send you away satisfied.
Patrik Henry Bass
Page after elegant, funny, and poignant page, POSTCARDS FROM COOKIE astounds. The power of Clarke’s writing is matched by the complex and remarkable relationship between two extraordinary and unforgettable women.
Library Journal
11/01/2013
Journalist Clarke went looking for her biological mother and found Cookie, eldest daughter of Nat King Cole, with whom she struck up a voluminous correspondence.
Kirkus Reviews
2014-02-26
Journalist Clarke's story of her discovery that her biological mother was Carol "Cookie" Cole, the daughter of Nat King Cole, a revelation that caused her to build a life-altering relationship with her through the exchange of letters, phone calls and postcards. The author is an award-winning journalist and the happy mother of two. She is also the adopted daughter of two parents who gave her a wonderful life. When she visited the agency that handled her adoption, she only sought information on her genetic heritage, which she required for medical reasons. The details she received from the agency, however, as well as a series of remarkable coincidences, helped her realize that her birth mother was Cookie Cole, the daughter of the legendary musician. The author's discovery forced her to acknowledge a deep-rooted curiosity she had about her birth mother since childhood. "All adoptees are curious about their beginnings," she writes. "Anyone who claims otherwise (as I have many times) is lying." So she reached out to Cookie in search of answers to the questions she had convinced herself, up until that point, that she could ignore. Clarke's prose is elegant, crisp and deeply personal, and her narration is gripping, even after she reconnects with her biological mother and uncovers the truth about her own origins. Happy endings in life are seldom conclusions, and that Clarke gets one only complicated her story more. "Whose life is this anyway?" writes Cookie in one of her letters to her daughter, a fraught question coming from a woman who created life, only to have life force her to give her child away. Clarke effectively explores her crisis of identity by peeling back layer after layer of a complex, riveting personal history. A captivating memoir about a daughter's reunion with her birth mother and the intricate consequences it had on both their lives.
