Viola Davis teaches us how to tackle a situation that she considers the biggest discovery in her life. Davis takes readers throughout the course her life from her childhood up until the present moments of her career.

In 2001 Viola won a Tony Award for King Hedley II, and then the 2008 movie 'Doubt' marked her transition from stage actor to film/Hollywood actor. Viola Davis, Inside Out: How she drew on a life of private hardship to become one of the greatest actors of her generation.Viola Davis is very open with her mental health journey and the therapy she has worked through to deal with past traumas. The author is discussing the pain that she had to suffer due to the mindset of people due to the influence of the Jim Crow laws. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.

In this riveting autobiography, we get to know Viola as she finds her truth, revisits childhood memories, and reflects on what made her the woman (and EGOT winner) she is today. Objectively speaking, Finding Me is a powerful story; it's not an easy one to read, as it's one born in pain and violence. I’ve always been drawn to her work, and then to her more personally when I saw her share as part of an informal actress’ round table. Following her gap year, during which Viola became a "professional actress", she went on to Juilliard School in New York City.The older children were raised by their grandparents until Mae Alice could no longer stand to hear stories of them being beaten in school, and sent for them to come to Rhode Island. American society and the entertainment industry remain so fundamentally flawed, that Viola, with all the awareness of being one, continues to be an exemption to the long-established rules and customs which continue to impede black women from social mobility. If there is anything that I learned from each of these moments, it's that you can never tell what someone has been through by just looking at them. I see people—the way they walk, talk, laugh, and grieve, and their silence—in a way that is hyperfocused because of my past.

Toward the end of the book, the intersection of her writing about her career and her writing about the evolution of her family dynamic sometimes merged in a way that didn’t always work for me. All the attributes that are attached to being a woman-desirable, vulnerable, needing to be rescued-don't apply to us. This memoir is like a conversation with Viola Davis, it doesn't have any real structure and I didn't feel like I learned anything inspiring. I’m baffled at just how powerful — brutal - heart wrenching- heartbreaking - heart stopping - and deeply, profoundly ‘soul’-generous Viola Davis is…. not just winning an Emmy, a Tony nomination, a Golden Globe award, screen actors Guild award, a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, an Academy award for best supporting actress….

Most of the people in Central Falls were white, and Viola was the butt of vicious racist slurs since she was a child. Viola Davis, an American actress and producer, is one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony (EGOT).

I have loved this actress for a long time based solely on her skills as an actress, but now I am doubly impressed. She wants to connect and communicate to the reader what’s it’s like to come from poverty, to live in fear, to fight for your life. I’m guessing every reader will continue thinking about this book long after finishing it - certain sections more than others (all for varied reasons)…. Viola is so incredibly raw and honest when sharing stories from her childhood, her journey into being an actress, and the lessons she learned along the way as a daughter, wife, mother, and artist.Finding Me is a raw and honest memior about growing up in abject poverty with an abusive and alcoholic father. Viola is vulnerable and honest and I have a deep appreciation for not just the excellent actress she is, but the person she is — Someone who overcame so much, who will shed labels and be true to herself. I think it’s always nice to see who public figures or stars are behind the image we create and this glimpse behind the image did not disappoint.