Coming Home by Brittney Griner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Despite being a sports fan, I do not watch as much basketball as I watch other sports and so I was only tangentially familiar with Brittney Griner before her infamous arrest and detainment in Russia. However, like many others I was interested in her story and was happy for her release.
I decided to read Coming Home because I wanted to learn more about her and what I assumed was a harrowing experience.
The book is very focused on the time in Russia. I hoped for more information about her life in general, but I understand that was outside the scope of this project.
Her account of her time in Russian prison is very interesting and truly heartbreaking. I can only imagine the fear of being locked away in a country with very different laws from your own and where you are not familiar with the food or do not speak the language. I thought she did a great job of owning her role in the experience and also in highlighting other people wrongfully detained in other countries.
Reading some of the reviews I was struck by some of the hate filled responses to her story. Just because she is black, a part of the LGBTQ community, and famous does not make her any less deserving of help. The vitriol in some of the reviews echoes so many of the sentiments she described in her book. Those same people who are outraged at her release would expect the US government to intervene if they found themselves in a similar situation.
I chose to listen to the audio and enjoyed hearing the author read the prologue and epilogue. Though the narrator did a great job I do wish the author had read the entire story. The epilogue was focused on thanking the people who helped her as well as highlighting the other people still being held and listing ways that we can all work to help bring them back to their families.
Overall, though I wanted to know more about Brittney’s story in general I did enjoy this glimpse into her nightmare experience in Russia. If you are a fan of memoirs I’d definitely give this one a go.
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