Shadows of the Ivory – a memoir

A life-quest stirred by the search for a mother lost half a world away. A real-life heroine’s journey and a poignant coming-of-age across three continents.

A baby, severed from her mother in a poor African village, is brought to cosmopolitan France, only to suffer the loss of her father. Adopted by her aunt and her irascible husband, Maryline finds solace in athleticism. After bravely forging her own path, she finds love, settling in the U.S.A.

A brilliant portrait of a determined and passionate woman, the mother she yearned for, and her odyssey to reclaim Womanhood, Motherhood, Faith, and Self.

Dr. Maya Angelou wrote, “Be certain that you do not die without having done something wonderful for humanity,” I wish to follow Dr. Angelou’s advice, and create The Therese Yei Meledje Foundation to honor my African Mother, and to help my African village, Vieux-Badien, with the sales of the memoir, to build a hospital, a new school, and a sport facility.