When Asha Bandele fell in love with a prisoner serving a twenty-to-life sentence and became pregnant with his daughter, she had reason to hope they would live together as a family. But soon after Nisa was born, Asha’s dreams were shattered. Her husband, Rashid, was denied parole and told he’d be deported to his native Guyana once released. Suddenly a statistic—a black single mother in New York City—Asha kept it together on the outside while falling apart on the inside. Despite having a great job at a high-profile magazine and a beautiful daughter whom she adored, Asha began drinking and smoking and stumbled into a relationship that opened new wounds—descending into depression when her life should have been filled with love and joy.

A lyrical, astonishingly honest memoir, Something Like Beautiful is not only Asha’s story but also the story of thousands of women who struggle daily with little help and much against them.