This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.

As I wrote Finding Me, my eyes were open to the truth of how our stories are often not given close examination. We are forced to reinvent them to fit into a crazy, competitive, judgmental world. So I wrote this for anyone running through life untethered, desperate and clawing their way through murky memories, trying to get to some form of self-love. For anyone who needs reminding that a life worth living can only be born from radical honesty and the courage to shed facades and be . . . you.

Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.

Listening Length

9 hours and 15 minutes
Author

Viola Davis
Narrator

Viola Davis
Audible release date

April 26, 2022
Language

English
Publisher

HarperAudio
ASIN

B09F56PHTF
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	9 hours and 15 minutes
Author	Viola Davis
Narrator	Viola Davis
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	April 26, 2022
Publisher	HarperAudio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B09F56PHTF
Best Sellers Rank	#17 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #1 in Women's Biographies #1 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies #1 in Biographies of Women

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By looking at herself Viola Davis helps the reader to understand the importance of FINDING ME

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022

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We know Viola Davis because of the appearances on stage and screen. With FINDING ME, however, she delivers what might be her "appearance" best yet. The book shares stories I had never heard before and levels of despair that could have easily broken anyone.

Layer upon layer she shows us where her heart, determination, grit and resilience were birthed---and holds a mirror up to us all to remind us of what is possible.

Reading this it makes her well-deserved success even more amplified and poignant. She has not just earned her place in the entertainment industry. FINDING ME shows how she realized the place she deserves in the world.

You'll reflect, smile and feel the rollercoaster of emotions she has become known for bringing to life in the characters she plays. Now, though, we can root for her in showing up for her greatest role: the best version of herself. Bravo, Ms. Davis. Job well done.

245 people found this helpful

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Nina

Real and Thought Provoking

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022

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Book delivered today and I can't put it down. Every woman should read it, if for nothing else to heal the broken little girl in you.

185 people found this helpful

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Kim

What a women!

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022

I just love how open and honest this women is. I bought the book right away knowing that I can learn from her. There are so many gems in powerful people . Watch the Oprah interview on Netflix. Then buy the book.

155 people found this helpful

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Janet Rodriguez

love viola and loved her book

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022

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I loved her compassion, her journey, her love for family, and her graciousness towards those she worked with. A truly great actress and lady! And I always thought she was beautiful! First saw her in the tv series about Annalise Keating, then saw the movie Help, then watched her with Denzel Washington - WOW is all I can say on her acting! Thank you for such Ana amazing book!

76 people found this helpful

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readerplus

Power in every page!

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022

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Viola Davis has an amazing story to share - I have long admired her work in film however must say this book tops it all. She carries the reader into her past without apology. I started and finished this in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. Fabulous read!

62 people found this helpful

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Chrlens

Power and Amazing

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022

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The media could not be loaded.

I’ve cried and laughed and was utterly shocked at times. But this book is an experience you’ll never forget!

62 people found this helpful

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Christen Hearn

Viola Davis is a Survivor

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2022

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I expected to be uplifted by this book, as I am so enamored of Viola Davis and admire her so much. Instead, I came away angry. Days later, I am still angry by how much her parents failed her and her siblings. It makes it very hard to understand why she is so very attached to them, especially her mother. There is so much her parents could have done and did not do. If they had given up drinking, smoking and gambling for just a little while, they could have given their kids shoes and decent meals and maybe even a habitable place to live. Why did the school have to teach the girls about basic hygiene? Could her parents not have put a bucket beside the girls' bed to use for a nighttime bathroom trip? Why did her mother remain completely silent when Viola told her of the sexual abuse perpetrated by Viola's brother? I understand that her parents needed their own pleasures and escapes, but they needed to be PARENTS first! That is the bargain we as mothers and fathers make. Viola is not alone in her story, but her story is just SO horrendous! At the very least, what about some cardboard in her shoes, to be changed frequently? I saw so much of this as a VISTA volunteer in Fla. in the early 70's and I am sure it is still happening today, but at least those parents TRIED. It is beyond me to understand how forgiving Viola was and is. She possesses an inner strength that is rare in most people. I know that many people will not agree with me, but the abuse she and her siblings endured is just beyond the pale and her parents failed their children in so many, many ways. Read this book to marvel how Viola Davis overcame the odds, but don't expect to feel good about it.

135 people found this helpful

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V. Williams

Love It!

Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2022

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Been waiting on this for a while. Ms. V is fierce! Just get it.

56 people found this helpful

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James

There she is

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2022

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As soon as I heard the news all those months ago that Viola was releasing a book, I jumped at the chance of pre-ordering. After watching her numerous career defining performances over the years in Ma Raineys Black Bottom, HTGAWM, Fences, she opens up a chapter that is not always so accessible to the public. In ‘Finding Me’, we are reminded that this woman is not only one of the greatest actors of all time, but a truly courageous survivor. Congrats on everything, Viola!

56 people found this helpful

Oprah was right

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2022

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This is a life changing read - real, raw, deeply moving and profoundly wise. If you need a wake up call, some perspective on life - to help you see all the opportunity, ease, potential and power you are not leveraging - read this. I read it in one sitting.

I am in awe of the strength it must have taken Viola not just to survive her early life, but to retell it. This story goes deep into the unimaginable terror, pain and darkness she faced daily throughout childhood, and her immense years long struggle to transform herself and her life into one of love and light. It's so inspiring, so beautiful. It makes me see my own life very differently.

Thank you for sharing your "hero's journey" Viola. You should be so proud.

X

17 people found this helpful

Robert ‘Bob’ Macespera

A good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2022

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Viola Davis has become one of the most respected actors of hers and possibly any other generation. Still in her mid-fifties she's won all possible awards, not only in cinema but in the theatre and TV, and she does have indeed a long career ahead of her. With a non-conventional look, she was often cast as the dull public servant (Traffic and Syriana), teacher (Doubt) or the repudiated girlfriend (Out of Sight). She exploded in The Help, with the Oscar in that one going to the wrong actress, and then she started carrying the pictures, yet never leaving completely characters coming from the sidelines or as she tells quite funnily in this book, it took her almost 20 years (until "How to get away with murder") to have a husband and a lover in the same movie, something almost all white actors, men and women, do have early in their careers.
When the book was announced months ago it was a nice surprise. The woman we love to love in the screen will tell her life. And now, down to matters, how good is the book?
It is good, sincere, shocking and well written. Ms Davies has pulled no stops and she does tell the poverty (or "po" i.e. below poverty, as her family called it), the sexual abuses, the family dramas and a painfully slow ascent to Hollywood stardom. The first half of the book is the best. The appalling conditions of a household plagued with violence, alcohol abuse and incest are sometimes a hard read, but the author keeps us in line. There's always an anecdote to lighten the text - the bullfrogs and some characters around the family; and these are very welcome.
Then comes the "call" to the stage and a slow progression to the top. Ms Davies never ceases to be star-strucked (as when she 's invited to George Clooney's house in Italy) or when she acts merely silly in front of Meryl Streep. This part is good, but a tad conventional - the prose is still good but there’s less passion. However, the text progresses well and in the end we finish the read closer to the author and at the same time wanting to know more of her.
On the bad side? Too many references on monies and salaries. Ms Davies tells us how much she made at every step of the ladder. Also, the book is written by an actor (and a very good one), but we read little of the process of the movies beyond the audition (and the salary), and many important pictures (and directors and fellow actors) are not even mentioned. We expected a bit more from inside the movies.
But in the end, it is a good book by a wonderful actor and a better even human being.
A note. Apart from an autobiography, this book is, to these eyes, a cry to the Governments and specifically to that of the USA. It is appalling and unjust and simply inadmissible, that a family of six children has to suffer as Ms Davies did: at sub-zero temperatures in a small and deranged flat, without electricity, warm water and often without water at all because the pipes froze and blocked. And this did not happen in Dickensian days but in the mid-seventies and only a handful of miles away from the New York of Wall Street and Park Avenue. Capitalism is the only economical system that works. Fact. But not everything can be left to the "invisible hand" and the powers of the market. The States, starting by the more powerful ones cannot have people, whole families, living in those conditions and must have in place a social security system effective enough so parts of their populations do not starve or go through such harsh conditions. Viola Davis’ story is that of her family as well as of many families suffering the same today.

One person found this helpful

Meldabird

Wow!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2022

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Over the years Viola has truly grown on me. Not only is she such a gifted actress, but she has to be by far one of THE most eloquent public speakers with such a natural gift for words. I could listen to her all day long. When I found out she was going to write a memoir I couldn’t wait as I knew what she would write would be special. Now, dear reader, in biographies there is honest (where there is an element of gloss to make you look good) and there is HONEST (no holds barred to the point you are putting your soul on the floor). Viola is the latter. My jaw hit the floor many times. I feel awful, as there must of been many young people like Viola that I went to school who looked practically neglected, but they are the ones who triumphed as they were exposed from a young age the struggles and hard-knocks of life. I want to say thank you to Viola for sharing your gifts so generously with the world and showing a side many don’t see. Thank you for your vulnerability, as there are many people out there struggling and you have shown there is a way out.

One person found this helpful

Afreeka

Beautifully raw!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 2, 2022

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"Finding Me" is a story of hope, survival and acceptance of oneself. Viola takes us through her childhood right to her present and hides nothing from us, I cried with her, sympathised with her, rooted for her, was excited for her, everything!

This book is for anyone who wants to be more, who wants to live and thrive. It's for people of all races but especially for black girls/women, you are beautiful, you are worthy, you are desirable, you are smart, you are YOU. Viola encourages you to find yourself.

2 people found this helpful

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