A Better Tomorrow: Life Lessons in Hope and Strength

by Mina Smallman

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you - Maya Angelou

Mina Smallman has lived through the unimaginable. On Saturday 6 June 2020, her daughters, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, were killed in a park by a male stranger as they celebrated Bibaa's birthday.

Mina has been fighting for justice ever since - for her daughters, and for the rest of us, by challenging the toxic culture in the Metropolitan Police and calling out the wider institutional misogyny, racism and classism in Britain. Now, she tells her story for the first time. Starting from her childhood in foster care and arriving at the present day, Mina looks back on her time as a schoolteacher, and then as the first woman of colour to be an Archdeacon in the Church of England, before sharing her experience of losing her two daughters, Bibaa and Nicole.

Told through grief and with compassion, humour and love, this deeply personal memoir is Mina's beacon of hope, which calls for all of us to step up, collectively, and work together for a better future.

Genres: Nonfiction

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2023

Reviews

[Gemma Dufty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye opening what some people go through in life and show such courage.

[Lucy Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dad always has the best books lying around so I picked this up yesterday morning and finished it in the day! A truly heartbreaking story, made worse by structural misogyny and racism. A real insight into how much the world needs more activists like Mina but acknowledging the fight is truly exhausting.

[Beverley Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A terrible true story that you think you hadn't heard about but when you learn the details you remember that you did. This story of a family that lost not one but two daughter to a fatal knife attack by a stranger during on of the world most dangerous epidemics and the shock incidents that occurred during the investigation and crime. This mother is not an author but a story teller in her words. This is an easy read but shocking. She collates stories of her life and how it comes back to not only help her deal with the tragedy but how she deals with the murder and the institutions that let her down.

[Niamh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book!
This was an amazing listen. I feel like I could listen again straight away and hear more again in it as it was incredibly rich in it's storytelling and wisdom. Thank you Mina

[Marie (UK) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a very powerful book not only for the events it describes but also for how the author tries to change perceptions and the way such events are viewed.

[Mrs.w2021 · Rating 3 out of 5]

very hard read but worth, it i would recommend a stress ball, tissues and regular breaks, this book will make you feel every emotion.

[Alice Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book of the year - what an incredible woman

[mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book came to me at the right time. thank you for sharing your story, you are an inspiration.