Maya Angelou is an incredibly inspirational woman and reading this first precious instalment of her memoirs has left no doubt in my mind as to why. In this first book, we follow Maya's early life and upbringing by her Grandmother. We see the developments in the close relationship with her brother as well as the reunion between the siblings and their parents. Some chapters were particularly hard to read, for example, reading about the sexual abuse that Maya endured as a young girl at the hands of someone who should have been a trusted adult. I thought the way in which Maya spoke about equality and race issues was extremely thought provoking. I love the way in which Maya wrote this book, I was captured from the very beginning. This was an emotional and heart-wrenching read and I'll definitely be adding the other instalments of her memoirs to by reading list.