To Hair and Back: My Journey Toward Self-love One Strand at a Time

If hair was a woman’s crowning glory, then why did Rhonda Eason have a mass of uncontrollable tumbleweed at best? At worst, it was a source of frustration and self-condemnation. Raised in a family of women born with tresses suitable for romance novel heroines, Rhonda was apathetic toward her kinky coils, and, in turn, herself*. To Hair and Back – My Journey Toward Self-Love One Strand at a Time* is a debut memoir that details her quest for the perfect head of hair and the discovery of something far more meaningful. In this endearing personal narrative, she explores the question: If I am not my hair, then who am I?

Beginning in a Detroit ghetto and traversing the globe, the author boldly reveals the joy, despair, pride, and public humiliation she experienced while in search of her best self. Through humorous self-introspection, Rhonda uses her passion for hair to explore the dynamics of her relationships, as well as themes of race and gender. To Hair and Back takes the reader on a journey of a child bullied because of her knotty roots through her adventurous life-long crusade in search of the perfect hair. Masked as a need for creativity and a remedy for boredom, Rhonda’s obsession with her ever-changing hairstyles becomes a metaphor that anyone who has ever struggled with issues of self-worth will find relatable.