Too Brown to Keep

Judy Fambrough-Billingsley was born Ute Schaab in Friedberg, Germany, shortly after World War II. As the daughter of a white German woman and a black American soldier, she became one of the many unwanted “brown babies” whose mixed-race led to their abandonment by her mother. Her powerful and riveting memoir describes the historical time period of World War II and the transformation she experienced in her quest to find both birth parents.

From a childhood in Germany shortly after the war to adulthood in America, Too Brown to Keep: A Search for Love, Forgiveness, and Healing recounts the author’s inspirational odyssey, as the search for her birth parents leads to the discovery of the good, the bad, and the ugly family secrets she struggled to unearth for decades. She gives a captivating, true account of the emotional and psychological effects of being biracial, abandoned, an internationally adopted baby, and the heart-wrenching, very public rejection she suffered at the hands of some members of her newly discovered family.

Her remarkable journey of the trials and triumph she endured on her journey of self-discovery results in a thought-provoking chapter on forgiveness and healing. This easy-to-follow book concludes with a guide to researching your own ancestry or finding and reconnecting with a person who has been missing from your life. Too Brown to Keep is gripping, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.