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Letter to My Daughter

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About this listen

 For a world of devoted fans, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers.

Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight.

Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son.

Whether she is recalling such lost friends as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a “lifelong endeavor,” or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice–Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family.

Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, and share.




“I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”

–from Letter to My Daughter


Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:

Mari Evans: Excerpt from “I Am A Black Woman” from I Am A Black Woman by Mari Evans (New York: William Morrow, 1970). Reprinted by permission of Mari Evans.

Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Harold Ober Associates: “I, Too” and “Dream Variations” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Russell, Associate Editor, copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Rights in the United Kingdom are controlled by Harold Ober Associates. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates.

Melvin B. Tolson, Jr. c/o The Permissions Company: Excerpt from “Dark Symphony” from Rendezvous With America (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1944). Originally published in Atlantic Monthly (September, 1941), copyright © 1941, 1944 by Melvin B. Tolson and copyright renewed 1968, 1972 by Ruth S. Tolson. Reprinted by permission of Melvin B. Tolson, r. c/o The Permissions Company, www.permissionscompany.com.©2008 Maya Angelou; (P)2008 Random House Audio Art & Literature Authors Cultural & Regional Women Heartfelt Funny Witty Inspiring Thought-Provoking Social justice

Critic reviews

“It’s a book to give to one’s daughter, mother, son or father, but definitely one to be read and savored.”—Baltimore Sun

“Sound advice, vivid memory and strong opinion . . . What is clear is that [Maya] Angelou is, all these years later, still a charmer, still speaking her mind.”—Washington Post Book World

“A slim volume packed with nourishing nuggets of wisdom . . . Overarching each brief chapter is the vital energy of a woman taking life’s measure with every step.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Written in Angelou’s beautiful, poetic style, the essays feel like warm advice from a beloved aunt or grandmother, whose wisdom you know was earned.”—Fredericksburg Free Lance—Star

“Spellbinding . . . Angelou delivers with her signature passion and fire. . . . Each [essay] delivers a powerful message.”—Rocky Mountain News
All stars
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Loved this book. Haven't read Maya Angelou since college and it felt like slipping into an old pair of pyjamas - familiar and comforting.

She shared some harrowing experiences from her young adult years as well as her life in the arts and as part of the 60s Civil Rights movement.

Ultimately this book is a story of a woman nearing her end who has taken the time to summarise some of the high and low points of her life in the brutally honest but kind way that is distinctly Maya's voice.

The fact that she read her own book made it even more touching.

I think anyone could and should read this book.

A Heartfelt and Honest Rambling of a Life Well Li

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I was surprised by some of the stories I heard, some of the emotion I felt, I laughed out loud and cried all in space of 5 minutes.

What a wonderful women, life and articulate way of writing! Highly recommend as you will learn and be delighted all in one!

Letter to My Daughter - Class Read

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I love listening to Maya Angelou and the way she shares her experiences of life moves me everytime. I call this woman my grandmother. Words so profound it brings you to tears. She is forever here.

Nicely written.

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Listening to it felt like a long hug of understanding and encouragement. Perfect quick and easy listen for a positive week ahead

Such a lovely boost to my slow morning

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I have always been intrigued by this woman, at some point her story was so surreal I thought she was a work of fiction. something created by Shakespeare or Dahl, or one of the great old literary geniuses of our time. Like James Bond or Sherlock Holmes or even our beloved caped crusaders. No one could be that wise, that composed, that respectable, that admired, that reveered, that influential, that loved and that far reaching unless they were carefully created and placed between the pages of a perfectly, well thought out book. I am in awe of her and her work and I could never tire of it. she to me is the definition that not all hope is lost and our generation has someone to look up to. Letter to my daughter should be read by every woman. You may not always have great things happen to you in your life, but you can be great inspite of them. Happy Reading.

a love letter.

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