Where are you from? No, where are you really from? explores three central themes: migration, identity and belonging, examining them in the context of empire, and its continuing impact on the lives of those in Britain today. The question, 'Where are you from?' is familiar to all. But for people of colour, it more often than not carries an insinuation that they don't really belong. This is made explicit in the frequent follow-up: 'No, where are you really from?' This book explores why the question continues to be asked and considers its impact on people of colour.
The author draws on memoir and historical research, tracing the experiences of empire and migration across seven generations of her family, delving back to the 1760s, spanning various countries, including Britain, Ireland, Imperial India and Singapore. She sets the stories of individual women and men in the socio-political contexts of their times and discusses the factors that lead them to set out on uncertain and arduous journeys across continents, including conflict, abduction, displacement, economic necessity, and love. The book explores the meanings of these stories for our age. The stories have resonance for anyone that has personal or family experiences of migration, but draw all readers to reconsider what it means to be British today.
