Letters to Nina Simone

Born at Ellis Island on the exact day the United States entered World War II, Ellie Bakker arrives into a world already fractured. Her parents, scarred by their harrowing flight from Amsterdam and the bombs of the London Blitz, have little love to spare for a daughter who grows up larger, more masculine, and painfully strange. Shunned by peers and emotionally abandoned at home, Ellie retreats into intellect, finding solace only in her books and her dog, Charlie. From the frontlines of the Civil Rights movement to the halls of Princeton, Ellie claws her way toward academic success, nursing a growing dependence on alcohol to numb a lifetime of internal turmoil. She endures a stifling marriage, crippling debt, the crushing weight of postpartum depression, perimenopause, a devastating divorce, and the arduous reconciliation of caring for her dying, cruel mother. Yet out of the ashes of her pain, professional triumph arrives-alongside sobriety, a thriving psychology practice, and a fiercely protective bond with her daughter, Annie. Just as peace and purpose finally anchor her, Ellie receives a devastating dementia diagnosis. Racing against time and the steady erosion of her memory, she dedicates her final months to writing her memoir. Aided by Eli, a steadfast partner from her activist past who promises to honor her ultimate wish, Ellie sets a date for Christmas Eve to end her life on her own terms. Spanning decades, continents, and the deeply complex topography of mother-daughter bonds, Letters to Nina Simone is a heart-wrenching triumph about the cost of holding on, the grace of letting go, and the legacies we leave behind.