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Fearless and Free
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE The TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, W Magazine, Oprah Daily, LibraryReads
Praised as “funny and witty” by Kwame Alexander on the TODAY show, now published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the “trailblazing” (People), rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy, and Civil Rights activist.
“A gorgeous, captivating gem of a memoir… Josephine Baker’s as enthralling on the page as she was on the stage.” —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone and Sin in the Second City
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.
When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
Praised as “funny and witty” by Kwame Alexander on the TODAY show, now published in the US for the first time, Fearless and Free is the memoir of the “trailblazing” (People), rule-breaking, one-of-a-kind Josephine Baker, the iconic dancer, singer, spy, and Civil Rights activist.
“A gorgeous, captivating gem of a memoir… Josephine Baker’s as enthralling on the page as she was on the stage.” —Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author of Eden Undone and Sin in the Second City
After stealing the spotlight as a teenaged Broadway performer during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, Josephine then took Paris by storm, dazzling audiences across the Roaring Twenties. In her famous banana skirt, she enraptured royalty and countless fans—Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso among them. She strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. With her signature flapper bob and enthralling dance moves, she was one of the most recognizable women in the world.
When World War II broke out, Josephine became a decorated spy for the French Résistance. Her celebrity worked as her cover, as she hid spies in her entourage and secret messages in her costumes as she traveled. She later joined the Civil Rights movement in the US, boycotting segregated concert venues, and speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr.
First published in France in 1949, her memoir will now finally be published in English. At last we can hear Josephine in her own charming, passionate, and brave. Her words are thrilling and intimate, like she’s talking with her friends over after-show drinks in her dressing room. Through her own telling, we come to know a woman who danced to the top of the world and left her unforgettable mark on it.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1949
289 people are currently reading
11935 people want to read
About the author
Josephine Baker
23 books64 followersAmerican-French entertainer Josephine Baker, originally Freda Josephine McDonald, a popular jazz dancer and singer in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s, worked for the Resistance during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephi...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 258 reviews
November 21, 2024
It's important to know that this is a memoir rather than an autobiography, and that it's formed from a series of conversations that Baker had with a French journalist: as such, it's chatty, it's uneven. and it's a fairly on the surface account of an amazing woman and her rich life.
Born at the start of the twentieth century Baker is phenomenal: she's a dancer, a performer, and a movie star; she works for the French Resistance during WW2, and she's part of the Civil Rights movement. She is outspoken about racism and her forceful approach to standing up against injustices.
Nevertheless, I never felt that I really got to grips with Baker: for example, she talks about how she made the decision, as a sixteen year old, to just leave her family and go on the stage; she describes how she simply haunted a producer till he agreed to let her join his show; from there, someone comes along and pays her a massive salary just to get her to join their company. There just seems so much that is unspoken about how that all happened in an America which she has described as openly racist.
So this definitely gives a feel for Baker's voice and an outline of what was an incredible life - I just wanted more of everything: more details, more thoughtful contemplation, more body to everything that we're told here. Added to a fuller biography this would make a fantastic companion piece but as a standalone, I felt it just skims the surface of a fascinating life.
Thanks to Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley
Born at the start of the twentieth century Baker is phenomenal: she's a dancer, a performer, and a movie star; she works for the French Resistance during WW2, and she's part of the Civil Rights movement. She is outspoken about racism and her forceful approach to standing up against injustices.
Nevertheless, I never felt that I really got to grips with Baker: for example, she talks about how she made the decision, as a sixteen year old, to just leave her family and go on the stage; she describes how she simply haunted a producer till he agreed to let her join his show; from there, someone comes along and pays her a massive salary just to get her to join their company. There just seems so much that is unspoken about how that all happened in an America which she has described as openly racist.
So this definitely gives a feel for Baker's voice and an outline of what was an incredible life - I just wanted more of everything: more details, more thoughtful contemplation, more body to everything that we're told here. Added to a fuller biography this would make a fantastic companion piece but as a standalone, I felt it just skims the surface of a fascinating life.
Thanks to Vintage for an ARC via NetGalley
March 22, 2025
What an amazing woman! She went after the life she wanted despite all the rejection she got. She never stopped. She was a total force of nature. She was beloved and reviled. She was admired and abhorred. But this memoir is in her words and tells us who she wants us to see. Talented, forceful, artistic, and even patriotic (albeit to the French).
Three stars because it was mostly like a catalog of her travels and some brief commentary of each place. It didn’t really have much in the way of her relationships with her family or friends, and even her husbands.
The foreword from Ijeoma Oluo was fantastic. I loved her book Mediocre. The foreword was perfect, and it added a nice touch.
Three stars because it was mostly like a catalog of her travels and some brief commentary of each place. It didn’t really have much in the way of her relationships with her family or friends, and even her husbands.
The foreword from Ijeoma Oluo was fantastic. I loved her book Mediocre. The foreword was perfect, and it added a nice touch.
January 9, 2025
3.5 rounded up
Josephine Baker 1906 - 1975
In this memoir, Josephine Baker spoke to French journalist Marcel Sauvage, giving him a series of interviews about her life up to 1949.
Who was Josephine Baker? She was born in 1906 in St. Louis Missouri, a mixed race girl who left the city of her birth and travelled to New York to work in theatres and as a teenager made her way to Paris. Here she became a famous dancer, famed for her banana dress in the Danse Sauvage, a jazz singer and an actress. She was beautiful, unforgettable, enigmatic, hugely gifted, an animal lover, a philanthropist, an activist, a World War II spy who became world renowned.
I knew of Josephine Baker but didn’t know a lot about her until last year when I read Codename Butterfly by Embassie Susberry which piqued my interest to want to read this memoir. The introduction gave really good context to the interviews, to the bigotry and bias that she and many others faced but it also stressed Baker’s humanity, her humour, her heartache, her bravery, as well as her outrage at injustice. This definitely came through loud and clear in the interviews. However, they are non-linear and a bit confusing at times, especially as the interviews and letters she received ran into one another somewhat randomly. However, it’s also true to say that her warmth, her sense of fun and that generosity of spirit definitely shine through. As a consequence, I understand her better, the hardships of growing up in St. Louis, the difficulties of establishing herself as a black artist in New York and the freedom that she felt in France. There was a great deal of her speaking about her performances around the world and how she was received there and it became a bit one dimensional, almost like a stream of consciousness, perhaps this was inevitable. It did however, give me an appreciation of the direction that her career took and why. Her travels in America especially south of the Mason Dixon line even as an established star were very revealing and obviously alarming.
As the interviews only went up to 1949 there’s obviously nothing about her involvement in the civil rights movement, but gaps can easily be filled by further research and I’m interested and fascinated enough in her to want to do exactly that.
Overall, she had a truly fascinating life. A black star given the honour of induction and immortality in the Panthéon Mausoleum in Paris in November 2021 where she lies alongside other great French people. It was really good to hear her voice through these interviews and it’s a good place to start further research of one of the most interesting people of the 20th century.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Josephine Baker 1906 - 1975
In this memoir, Josephine Baker spoke to French journalist Marcel Sauvage, giving him a series of interviews about her life up to 1949.
Who was Josephine Baker? She was born in 1906 in St. Louis Missouri, a mixed race girl who left the city of her birth and travelled to New York to work in theatres and as a teenager made her way to Paris. Here she became a famous dancer, famed for her banana dress in the Danse Sauvage, a jazz singer and an actress. She was beautiful, unforgettable, enigmatic, hugely gifted, an animal lover, a philanthropist, an activist, a World War II spy who became world renowned.
I knew of Josephine Baker but didn’t know a lot about her until last year when I read Codename Butterfly by Embassie Susberry which piqued my interest to want to read this memoir. The introduction gave really good context to the interviews, to the bigotry and bias that she and many others faced but it also stressed Baker’s humanity, her humour, her heartache, her bravery, as well as her outrage at injustice. This definitely came through loud and clear in the interviews. However, they are non-linear and a bit confusing at times, especially as the interviews and letters she received ran into one another somewhat randomly. However, it’s also true to say that her warmth, her sense of fun and that generosity of spirit definitely shine through. As a consequence, I understand her better, the hardships of growing up in St. Louis, the difficulties of establishing herself as a black artist in New York and the freedom that she felt in France. There was a great deal of her speaking about her performances around the world and how she was received there and it became a bit one dimensional, almost like a stream of consciousness, perhaps this was inevitable. It did however, give me an appreciation of the direction that her career took and why. Her travels in America especially south of the Mason Dixon line even as an established star were very revealing and obviously alarming.
As the interviews only went up to 1949 there’s obviously nothing about her involvement in the civil rights movement, but gaps can easily be filled by further research and I’m interested and fascinated enough in her to want to do exactly that.
Overall, she had a truly fascinating life. A black star given the honour of induction and immortality in the Panthéon Mausoleum in Paris in November 2021 where she lies alongside other great French people. It was really good to hear her voice through these interviews and it’s a good place to start further research of one of the most interesting people of the 20th century.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
February 9, 2026
Josephine Baker was such a star, this memoir only proves it. I was enthralled, and couldn't get enough of her fascinating life.
When I wasn't listening to the audiobook (stellar narration, by the way), I was thinking about it, and had to turn it back on to see what adventure Josephine would go on next.
Her voice really comes through, it's as if you're sitting down with her, and she's telling all of this to you, and you alone. I feel like I got to know her, like we became friends, almost.
She loves to entertain, that much is clear by the way that she talks, I just know she lit up every room she was in.
Most of the book focuses on her travels, with few details about anything else which some readers might have issue with, but for me, those were the best parts.
I'm biased, so my favourite thing in the book is Baker talking about her experiences in Romania, how much fun she had there, how lovely the people were, and KOMPOT!!! If the book wasn't a five star till that point (it very much was), it would've become one then and there.
Fearless and Free is one of my favourite reads this year, and I'm going to have to purchase a physical copy, because this will be getting reread over and over!! I highly, HIGHLY, recommend this incredible woman's memoir.
When I wasn't listening to the audiobook (stellar narration, by the way), I was thinking about it, and had to turn it back on to see what adventure Josephine would go on next.
Her voice really comes through, it's as if you're sitting down with her, and she's telling all of this to you, and you alone. I feel like I got to know her, like we became friends, almost.
She loves to entertain, that much is clear by the way that she talks, I just know she lit up every room she was in.
Most of the book focuses on her travels, with few details about anything else which some readers might have issue with, but for me, those were the best parts.
I'm biased, so my favourite thing in the book is Baker talking about her experiences in Romania, how much fun she had there, how lovely the people were, and KOMPOT!!! If the book wasn't a five star till that point (it very much was), it would've become one then and there.
Fearless and Free is one of my favourite reads this year, and I'm going to have to purchase a physical copy, because this will be getting reread over and over!! I highly, HIGHLY, recommend this incredible woman's memoir.
July 22, 2025
Jade Wheeler gives a stellar reading of Josephine Baker's conversational memoir of her artistic process and performing. A common complaint in the reviews for this book is that people wanted more detail. Memoir isn't always auto biographical in this way; sometimes it's more creative and I think this is a good example of that. I love the form, personally, of recreations of Baker's conversations with a journalist friend. I felt like I was having coffee with this brilliant, brave woman, who was also artistic and completely breezy. Loved this one, so glad I happened across it in Libby!
Read
January 10, 2025It's a pity the word 'icon' has been so determinedly stripped of all meaning; describing Josephine Baker as simply a dancer feels like taking the piss, but equally, she never gives the impression here of being quite happy with her singing or acting, and certainly not in the recorded form which is all that remains to us now. Or at least, all bar what could be captured in words, including her own, taken down here by the journalist Marcel Sauvage. Who's a more substantial presence than many modern ghosts, often directly addressed by his subject, very occasionally even adding a note of his own – which I think I find more honest than the pretence of ventriloquism. Of course, he may be finessing what she said to him; I can say that she comes across in a way that fits perfectly with what I already knew of her, but perhaps that's simply because his mythography has been so influential over the decades? Whichever: the Josephine Baker here is a fabulous, exhausting personality, scandalising and fascinating Europe between the wars, magnetic focus of a culture war long before they were called that. If she can sometimes come recall a Miss World contestant in her uncomplicated enthusiasm for animals, love and people just getting along, it's never long before you're reminded that she was happier than most to live up to those sentiments when things got tough, running messages for the Resistance despite failing health, and going up against the vile reality of postwar American racism (brutally open in the South, more insidious up North) when she could easily have stayed away. She's also clear-sighted about the storms around her, and mostly about the arts and the wider world – which is not to say there aren't occasional lapses, from her scepticism of talkies to a section on Harlem's Jewish landlords and managers for which the modern introduction quite understandably feels obliged to apologise. And then mixed in with all of that, you also get recipes and beauty tips; I was just thinking that the simplicity of the latter seemed ripe for a new TikTok trend when we got on to the bit about finding a fat rattlesnake and skinning it alive and yeah, OK, perhaps not. The jumping from topic to topic and general sense of fizzing energy did mean this wasn't a book I could have sat and read straight through; I know amateur, remote diagnoses are frowned upon, but it's tied with Kieran Culkin interviews for times when I have thought 'Even compared to the people I hang around with, this person seems incredibly ADHD'. But taken in small doses, it really gets across how remarkable she was in a way memoirs don't always manage, even if it also serves as a reminder of how often humanity as a whole seems determined to repeat the same stupid conflicts.
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
February 13, 2023
I am so sad about this book because I was initially stoked to find that it existed. Imagine...Josephine Baker, one of the most interesting women of the 20th century recounting her memories!
Sadly, this reminded me of listening to my grandma tell stories about people from her past and assuming that I know who she's talking about or that I'm interested in hearing about the minutia of their lives.
However, there is a section at the end that is incredibly interesting. Ms. Baker talks about coming back to a segregated America after living in France for so long. She recounts a trip she made to the south and it was fascinating. Other than that, I don't feel like I have any knowledge of Josephine other than which cities she performed in and how she eventually won over each city with her dancing. I'm super bummed...
Sadly, this reminded me of listening to my grandma tell stories about people from her past and assuming that I know who she's talking about or that I'm interested in hearing about the minutia of their lives.
However, there is a section at the end that is incredibly interesting. Ms. Baker talks about coming back to a segregated America after living in France for so long. She recounts a trip she made to the south and it was fascinating. Other than that, I don't feel like I have any knowledge of Josephine other than which cities she performed in and how she eventually won over each city with her dancing. I'm super bummed...
August 29, 2025
3.75 stars
"The dancer, the singer, the ingénue, the scandal maker, the activist, the spy."
Josephine Baker led a fascinating life. Fearless and Free gives a strong impression of her vivid personality and life through her own words. It can feel a little scattered, perhaps due to the random nature of the interviews used to make the book, which took place over twenty years, but perhaps also because of the quick and darting nature of Josephine's mind as she recounts her own experiences. She's a vivacious entertainer, a people person, determined, resilient, and truly one of a kind. Her love for Paris and her adopted country of France shine through.
I was particularly interested by the chapters about her life during WWII, her struggle with chronic illness, and her experiences around race, especially on her return to the US. Understandably, she doesn't give away too much about her life as a spy for the French resistance!
Fearless and Free will definitely make you want to check out videos of Josephine Baker dancing and singing. I'd like to read more about her, though nothing may be as effective as hearing about her in her own words.
"The dancer, the singer, the ingénue, the scandal maker, the activist, the spy."
Josephine Baker led a fascinating life. Fearless and Free gives a strong impression of her vivid personality and life through her own words. It can feel a little scattered, perhaps due to the random nature of the interviews used to make the book, which took place over twenty years, but perhaps also because of the quick and darting nature of Josephine's mind as she recounts her own experiences. She's a vivacious entertainer, a people person, determined, resilient, and truly one of a kind. Her love for Paris and her adopted country of France shine through.
I was particularly interested by the chapters about her life during WWII, her struggle with chronic illness, and her experiences around race, especially on her return to the US. Understandably, she doesn't give away too much about her life as a spy for the French resistance!
Fearless and Free will definitely make you want to check out videos of Josephine Baker dancing and singing. I'd like to read more about her, though nothing may be as effective as hearing about her in her own words.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
February 28, 2025
And Friday I'm in love.
Josephine Baker, in her own words, is absolutely delightful. What a legend.
Josephine Baker, in her own words, is absolutely delightful. What a legend.
February 8, 2025
I was furious to discover that dancer, singer, spy, icon Josephine Baker had a memoir, and that we simply didn’t have it because it wasn’t translated. What in the world took so long! A man named Marcel Sauvage interviewed Baker throughout the course of her life, and brought it together into a memoir in her own words; it has been translated by Anam Zafar and Sophie Lewis, and published in English as Fearless and Free: A Memoir.
And what a memoir it is. Baker’s voice is vivid, sparkling, right in front of you. She’s a funny, captivating storyteller, a natural, like a charismatic star lifted from a Hollywood film. You can see her as she speaks, you’re drawn into her energy. She describes her start in St. Louis, writes a love letter to Paris, the place where she found her home. Discusses her service during WWII in the French Resistance and how she considered it simply her duty; talks about her love for animals, her love for children. Describes being labeled all kinds of things in the name of politics and religion, condemned and celebrated. Describes her travels, and damningly describes her shock at the racism she experienced in the United States after WWII. “Songs have a soul,” she says. “You’ve got to give them a soul and feed that soul. That’s where their value lies. But sometimes a song’s soul chokes you.”
It’s not perefct—it is, after all, an oral memoir put together in retrospect, and some parts can be confusing or meander a bit. Also, as acknowledged in the introduction, there’s a part about Jews being racist in New York that’s unfortunate. But this memoir’s punch and rush is thrilling, and Baker is such an incredible person and personality. These pages hold that voice spectacularly, and that’s a truly amazing gift.
Content warnings for anti-Semitism, racism, g-slur, indigenous stereotypes, n-word.
And what a memoir it is. Baker’s voice is vivid, sparkling, right in front of you. She’s a funny, captivating storyteller, a natural, like a charismatic star lifted from a Hollywood film. You can see her as she speaks, you’re drawn into her energy. She describes her start in St. Louis, writes a love letter to Paris, the place where she found her home. Discusses her service during WWII in the French Resistance and how she considered it simply her duty; talks about her love for animals, her love for children. Describes being labeled all kinds of things in the name of politics and religion, condemned and celebrated. Describes her travels, and damningly describes her shock at the racism she experienced in the United States after WWII. “Songs have a soul,” she says. “You’ve got to give them a soul and feed that soul. That’s where their value lies. But sometimes a song’s soul chokes you.”
It’s not perefct—it is, after all, an oral memoir put together in retrospect, and some parts can be confusing or meander a bit. Also, as acknowledged in the introduction, there’s a part about Jews being racist in New York that’s unfortunate. But this memoir’s punch and rush is thrilling, and Baker is such an incredible person and personality. These pages hold that voice spectacularly, and that’s a truly amazing gift.
Content warnings for anti-Semitism, racism, g-slur, indigenous stereotypes, n-word.
April 1, 2025
Audiobook (9 hours) narrated by Ijeoma Oluo, Jade Wheeler, and Quentin Bruno
Publisher: Books on Tape
The narration is excellent, as is the audio.
The narration is what kept me listening as the format is pretty meh.
I wasn't crazy of the format of the book. I'm not sure how it would go in print as it seems like the book was taken from notes more than written by Josephine Baker herself, although the book was first published in 1949, so perhaps it was a style choice at the time.
The content of the book, as far as information, is fantastic. There are passages that are extremely entertaining, and the narrators make it seem like it's happening right now, with great emphasis on what is going on creating a fantastic atmosphere.
Publisher: Books on Tape
The narration is excellent, as is the audio.
The narration is what kept me listening as the format is pretty meh.
I wasn't crazy of the format of the book. I'm not sure how it would go in print as it seems like the book was taken from notes more than written by Josephine Baker herself, although the book was first published in 1949, so perhaps it was a style choice at the time.
The content of the book, as far as information, is fantastic. There are passages that are extremely entertaining, and the narrators make it seem like it's happening right now, with great emphasis on what is going on creating a fantastic atmosphere.
September 1, 2025
Having her memoir is such a gift. What an incredible life she led.
May 6, 2025
What a surprise find in this book. I was familiar with the name Josephine Baker but didn't know much about her except her Caberet style, over the top performances. She was so much more. She was progressive, independent, outspoken on human and animal rights, a philanthropist and a French war hero, her adopted country, and so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed her memoir.
August 14, 2025
A true icon! "I did take the blows [of life], but I took them with my chin up, in dignity, because I so profoundly love and respect humanity,"
February 22, 2025
This is a must read. Absolutely loved it. When I say I have waited decades to read this book, I mean it. I couldn't find it anywhere. It was first published in 1949. Just re-released! Josephine Baker is one of the most extraordinary fascinating figures in history. If you don't know what she did for the poor, for children, for animals, and for the war front...you need to discover her. Just incredible. We just missed her induction into the Panthéon in Paris when we were there in 2021. We made pilgrimage to her cenotaph in the Panthéon in 2023. You have to know it's EXTRAORDINARY that a Black woman, an American Black woman, has been inducted into the halls of the Panthéon. Take note... it is extremely conversational. Don't look for conventional writing. She literally told her memoirs... these are conversations about her exploits and wanderings. Don't sleep on this one. She should be everyone's hero...
November 23, 2024
Josephine Baker 1906- 1975
Josephine was so many things, an iconic dancer, singer, spy and civil rights activist.
She spent most of her career in France, where she was accepted after not being accepted in the United States for her color where she was born.
Her musical talent gained visits to the Kings of different countries. She traveled all over Europe before World War II .
She never had children of her own, but loved all the little ones, when she met them.
She had an array of pets and often traveled with them.
When she was given a gold cross in France for her humanitarian, she sold it to give the money to the resistance efforts during the war.
I want to thank Penguin House for sending me this ARC book.
Fearless and Free has been the best memoir that I've read this year.
Josephine was so many things, an iconic dancer, singer, spy and civil rights activist.
She spent most of her career in France, where she was accepted after not being accepted in the United States for her color where she was born.
Her musical talent gained visits to the Kings of different countries. She traveled all over Europe before World War II .
She never had children of her own, but loved all the little ones, when she met them.
She had an array of pets and often traveled with them.
When she was given a gold cross in France for her humanitarian, she sold it to give the money to the resistance efforts during the war.
I want to thank Penguin House for sending me this ARC book.
Fearless and Free has been the best memoir that I've read this year.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2025
Josephine Baker was an icon, and this collection of her thoughts and recollections of her days gone by, told in pure raconteur style, had me totally engaged. It is not a chronological history, it doesn't give you the biographical details you might expect, but what this book does is give you stories, insights into French culture at a certain period in history. You can hear the jazz, smell the cafe culture, the vino, and feel yourself becoming a fly on the wall to these great moments. A wonderful read.
March 11, 2025
While I enjoyed learning about Josephine Baker and her life through her own words, I felt more was missing. I liked that this felt like I was sitting down to interview a great aunt or my grandmother about her life story, but this was very surface level, and it left me wanting MORE.
August 27, 2025
3 1/2 stars rounded up.
An oral memoir, dating I would guess from the late 40's/early 50's (shortly after WWII). It's too disjointed, but entertaining in spots. I don't really know much more about Baker than I did before reading it.
An oral memoir, dating I would guess from the late 40's/early 50's (shortly after WWII). It's too disjointed, but entertaining in spots. I don't really know much more about Baker than I did before reading it.
May 17, 2025
I first heard about Josephine Baker from a podcast about her amazing WWII efforts. This book did not go into that as much, but it was more her life as a whole. It was also her love story to France.
February 10, 2025
Black History - Book 2
"Why can't people see that there's not enough kindness these days? Our world isn't so much in poor taste as entirely unacceptable. We can't carry on like this. I personally feel like I'm walking on shifting sands when I think about everything that needs to be put right, to be transformed with kindness."
First time in English, this was originally published in France in 1947.
This book read like a conversation between this joyous, formidable woman and the reader.
"Why can't people see that there's not enough kindness these days? Our world isn't so much in poor taste as entirely unacceptable. We can't carry on like this. I personally feel like I'm walking on shifting sands when I think about everything that needs to be put right, to be transformed with kindness."
First time in English, this was originally published in France in 1947.
This book read like a conversation between this joyous, formidable woman and the reader.
February 21, 2025
Reading this memoir felt like I was travelling the world
Read
March 3, 2026Performer, Dancer, Actress, Activist, SPY...?!!! Josephine Baker the woman that you are!!!!! So fascinating, looking up documentaries asap.
February 1, 2026
Disappointing! This book could have been so much better with a better interviewer. A lot of it was very vague, and I suspect the fault might lie with the fact the interviews were in French, Josephine’s second language, and she simply didn’t have a detailed enough vocabulary to describe events thoroughly. The section of her notes made on a trip back to the USA was obviously written in English, and read much better.
I had been looking forward to learning about her war work with the French resistance, and that was really disappointing - so little information.
She was very coy about her love life, and family generally - again, maybe a failure of emotional vocabulary?
The constant name-dropping with no substance was highly irritating.
If you want to learn about Miss Baker properly, I think there are probably better biographies out there.
I had been looking forward to learning about her war work with the French resistance, and that was really disappointing - so little information.
She was very coy about her love life, and family generally - again, maybe a failure of emotional vocabulary?
The constant name-dropping with no substance was highly irritating.
If you want to learn about Miss Baker properly, I think there are probably better biographies out there.
February 4, 2026
She had such a fascinating life but sadly this memoir doesn't really capture the full details. I liked the chatty conversational style of writing, but found myself wanting to know more details, especially about her involvement with the war.
November 24, 2025
Set mostly in Paris. 304 pp. Buddy Reads thread
Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker
Fearless and Free: A Memoir by Josephine Baker
November 4, 2025
Interesting book read of this famous individual
April 17, 2025
I hate giving just two stars to this book, because Josephine Baker -- dancer, singer, spy -- deserves more than five. She lived an incredible life. Unfortunately, this book doesn't come close to capturing it, offering extremely interesting vignettes tucked within a lot of tedious filler. The reader has to wade through Baker sharing recipes before we ever get to her spying for the Allies. The chapter near the end where she goes undercover to explore civil rights violations in the segregated South is fascinating, but I wouldn't blame anyone for having given up many pages earlier.
While supposedly a memoir, the book instead feels like a collaboration with a journalist where Baker knocked out a few interviews very quickly and he simply recorded the result. That may have worked when the contemporaries she refers to were household names. But this new edition is more handsomely packaged than smartly updated. The publisher would have served us better by giving us more context, more footnotes, along with a little history about its original reception and the pieces that are missing, and then losing some of the chapters that just make no sense for modern audiences. As is, it's an too facile introduction to a marvelous life. Personally, I intend to seek out a biography with a lot more information.
While supposedly a memoir, the book instead feels like a collaboration with a journalist where Baker knocked out a few interviews very quickly and he simply recorded the result. That may have worked when the contemporaries she refers to were household names. But this new edition is more handsomely packaged than smartly updated. The publisher would have served us better by giving us more context, more footnotes, along with a little history about its original reception and the pieces that are missing, and then losing some of the chapters that just make no sense for modern audiences. As is, it's an too facile introduction to a marvelous life. Personally, I intend to seek out a biography with a lot more information.
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