Red Dust Road is a biography by the renowned Scottish author Jackie Kay. Using her wit, Jackie takes us through a long journey in place and time as she seeks to unravel the secrets of her past that would maybe help her better understand herself. If Jackie’s parents were of the same color of skin and had gotten married, then there would have been no great story to tell.
Born of a young nurse, Elizabeth, and a Nigerian student at Aberdeen University, Kay had to be given up for adoption to save the family's face. Elizabeth was born and raised in a Catholic Community when bearing a child with an African man was considered unacceptable. Religion and ethnicity play a major role in this book.
The story begins with an intense scene when Kay meets her biological father, Jonathan, a born-again Christian who openly refers to her as a sin. Jonathan then spends over two hours earnestly praying for Kay and claims he wants nothing to do with her, he considers her an iniquity that he has kept hidden for most of his life. Kay's mother, Elizabeth, is no different, she immersed herself in faith as a coping mechanism to deal with the guilt of giving up her first-born child. Elizabeth had joined Mormon Church where she found solace in denying her past mistakes. She, like other Mormons, believed that fostered children cry out to be fostered even before they are born. Kay takes us through the shocking yet moving coping mechanism her birth parents practice to deal with their trauma.
However, this story bears another warm-hearted side starred by a young couple who became Kay's adoptive parents. Unable to bear children of their own, the young couple seeks out adoption agencies which at the time were run by religious institutions. Reluctant to hide their non-church going nature, the couple were considered illegible foster-parents, that is until they showed no mind of a child of color. Suddenly, a child was made available for them, a boy named Maxie. A few years later, the same agency contacts the couple and offers them a new-born girl, Kay. Kay recollects the warm memories shared with her parents and older brother. Their parents loved them entirely and raised them with love and good principles. According to Kay, her parents are a major source of strength for her especially in transcending the recurrent cruelties of casual racism.
Kay only feels compelled to find her birth parents after she becomes pregnant. She later gives birth to a son who grows up without a father. The father is lightly mentioned throughout the book. Kay who feels rejected and lost finds her relatives and describes her need to feel accepted by both sides and not left out. Her journey is one of self-acceptance and identity which she feels she has achieved. Red Dust Road is a glorified memoir which embodies a path to self-recognition.
