The Women Who Raised Me: Legacy Edition: A Memoir

Summary

Born as a ward of the state of Maine, the child of a Yankee blueblood mother, Dorothy (Collins) Rowell, and a Black Marine, Levi (Cowan) Wilson, from South Carolina, Victoria Rowell beat the odds that befalls many foster children.

The Women Who Raised Me is the remarkable story of her rise out of the foster care system to attain the American Dream and the myriad of women who lifted her up, inspired her, and seeded her with the drive and commitment it took to claim her place in the world.

The Women Who Raised Me is a loving tribute to the stalwart, honorable women … from pianist and horticulturist, Agatha Armstead, a Black Bostonian, and Victoria’s primary foster mother who noticed her spark for creativity and innate passion for ballet. Enter balletomane, Esther Brooks, who would become her first official ballet teacher and benefactress to study at the prestigious Cambridge School of Ballet in Massachusetts and many more extraordinary mentors, mothers, and teachers. As pivotal in her life was Vicki’s no-nonsense social worker, Linda Webb. The sheer determination of these diverse women fortified Victoria during her unlikely arrival in New York City at age seventeen with a full scholarship to study at the American Ballet Theater School. Navigating the Big Apple and the demanding, competitive world of classical ballet was not without its challenges. Accomplished, award-winning television and film star Victoria tells her story of going from foster care to fame with honesty and candidness. Transfixing and redemptive, The Women Who Raised Me is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, ultimately, inspiring.

The Legacy Edition of her NY Times Bestseller is a prayer to all children that they deserve someone to be their fortress, to defend their dreams, lovingly hold their hands and their spaces and remind each of them that they are a miracle and matter.

“The Women Who Raised Me speaks to motherhood everywhere—abundance, balance, strength, endurance, resilience, faith, and love … all that is required to raise the vibrations of humanity."—Sheryl Lee Ralph