Finding Me: A Memoir

By Viola Davis

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - A HARPERS BAZAAR BEST BOOK OF 2022 - A PARADE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK - A MARIE CLAIRE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK

"It's clear from the first page that Davis is going to serve a more intimate, unpolished account than is typical of the average (often ghost-written) celebrity memoir; Finding Me reads like Davis is sitting you down for a one-on-one conversation about her life, warts and all."--USA Today

"[A] fulfilling narrative of struggle and success....Her gorgeous storytelling will inspire anyone wishing to shed old labels."--Los Angeles Times


In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.

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.

BUY THE BOOK

Published Apr 26, 2022

Average rating: 8.75

1,101 RATINGS

|

Community Reviews

What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *Finding Me* by Viola Davis is a powerful, raw memoir that candidly shares her journey from hardship to fame. Reviewers agree it is deeply...

thesmokymountainsreader
Jul 06, 2026
10/10 stars
Thank you Viola for sharing your story. I listened to the audiobook, read by Viola, and I’m so glad I did. I highly recommend listening to this one. I’ve always loved her as an actress, but I didn’t know anything about her personal life. She takes the reader from the moment of her birth up until the present moments of her career and…wow. The amount of trauma and pain this woman endured is staggering. It took my breath away and many times I was in tears.

Overall, this was a beautiful, heart and gut wrenching book. It’s a raw and honest look at growing up in poverty with an alcoholic father who was also abusive while also surviving child sexual abuse/incest and coping with systemic racism. Yet through it all, she remained full of hope and courage and wanted something different for her life, ultimately finding love and becoming an Oscar winning actress.
Di Readz_zw
Mar 22, 2026
10/10 stars
Her style of writing made me really visualize the different stories. Which in turn made it quite the emotional read
TheBookishOne
Dec 27, 2025
10/10 stars
Absolutely loved this book!
SegaliLlama
Nov 20, 2025
8/10 stars
This book is worth a read and a listen! It is written in a way that makes you turn inward.
sweetlemoneade
Mar 11, 2025
10/10 stars
I loved this book! It is so incredible, it is heartbreaking and hopeful. Viola is so strong and resilient. I felt every emotion listening to this book, the audiobook was so wonderful to listen to because Viola Davis is the one who reads it. You really feel her emotions as she reads her story to you. I cannot say enough good things about this book.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.