Love for Every Ability
Keah Brown is doing amazing work as an essayist (for places like Atticus, ESPN, The Toast, and Lenny Letter), journalist (you’ll find her in Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and elsewhere), and activist (you might recognize the hashtag #disabledandcute? That’s Keah Brown’s creation).
Her new memoir, The Pretty One, has a lot to say about pop culture, friendship, family, living with a disability, issues around race and gender in society (and more!) but one of its central topics is love. Brown speaks candidly about the challenges of being seen as a lover or even a potential date. She talks about the work of taking her own, deserved place as “the pretty one” (what classmates used to call Brown’s twin, who unlike her sister was not living with cerebral palsy).
Brown’s sharp insights and ready wit are a treat, but her candor and willingness to be open about her own wants and needs make her message all the more powerful.
This discussion isn’t only happening in the memoir genre; a hot trend in romance is the new buzz around novels starring heroines with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Now, don’t think for a second that these ladies are the genteelly languishing characters from 19th century fiction: today’s romance heroine is made of stronger stuff than that, whatever illness or disability she may be living with!
This November, English writer Talia Hibbert’s novel Get a Life, Chloe Brown hits the shelves, but it’s already making waves in the romance world. A rave (and a coveted star) from Kirkus Reviews and a glowing feature in Entertainment Weekly are just part of the pre-publication excitement around the eagerly awaited title.
