---
product_id: 364966054
title: "Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All"
price: "$46"
currency: NZD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 5
url: https://www.desertcart.nz/products/364966054-fortune-how-race-broke-my-family-and-the-world-how
store_origin: NZ
region: New Zealand
---

# Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All

**Price:** $46
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All
- **How much does it cost?** $46 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.nz](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/364966054-fortune-how-race-broke-my-family-and-the-world-how)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World-and How to Repair It All [Lisa Sharon Harper, Moss, Otis III] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World-and How to Repair It All

Review: this book is so powerful and important and timely - I’ve been waiting for Lisa Sharon Harper to write another book ever since I read her book, The Very Good Gospel, a few years ago (twice). When I heard she was working on a book about her family’s story, I was even more excited. This book is an ABSOLUTE TREASURE. It took her three whole DECADES to complete the journey, the research, and the writing, AND SHE DID IT. This is one of those books where it’s literally IMPOSSIBLE to capture the essence and communicate the goodness in a single IG post, so I’m going to need all of you to promise me you’ll read the book. “Drawing on her lifetime journey to know her family’s history, Lisa Sharon Harper weaves a captivating story that begins with Maudlin Magee, Sambo Game, and their child, Fortune, Harper’s first nonindigenous ancestor born on American soil, and progresses through eight succeeding generations. Harper shows how American ideas, customs, and laws robbed her ancestors—and the ancestors of so many others—of their humanity and the opportunity to flourish. America was built upon systems and structures that blessed some and cursed others, allowing Americans of European descent to benefit from the colonization, genocide, enslavement, rape, and exploitation of people of color.” (inside book jacket) I got to take part in a Zoom conversation with Lisa when the book first came out, and it was such a gift. She is a brilliant and beautiful human being and a gift to all of us. THANK YOU, Lisa, for pouring your heart and soul into this gorgeous and powerful and important book.
Review: Lisa Sharon Harper's new book, Fortune, is an important book to read this year - In Fortune, Lisa Sharon Harper pieces together fragments of her family’s history from every bit of available evidence—living relatives’ memories, archival records, her own DNA, laws in the times and places they lived. She tells us about the African and Native American tribes her family came from, what their people were known for before they were enslaved. Shows them as parents and children ripped away from each other. When known detail is scant, she adds in imaginings of her ancestors washing dishes after a favorite meal, or holding a bucket of water on the farm as the census workers walk up. She puts flesh on their bones and lets us see her ancestors over generations, repeatedly coming up against the unjust, racist laws of the times in which they lived. This is not only a recounting of her family’s trauma, but also a guide for repair and collective healing. In a time when states are legislating against teaching about the history of racism in the United States, it is vital that we read this work. Letting ourselves feel and care for the fortunes of this particular family opens us to considering the ways that laws and systems have affected so many others, and thus considering our role in making things right. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

## Images

![Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8175NpoHAVL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ this book is so powerful and important and timely
*by M***O on March 9, 2022*

I’ve been waiting for Lisa Sharon Harper to write another book ever since I read her book, The Very Good Gospel, a few years ago (twice). When I heard she was working on a book about her family’s story, I was even more excited. This book is an ABSOLUTE TREASURE. It took her three whole DECADES to complete the journey, the research, and the writing, AND SHE DID IT. This is one of those books where it’s literally IMPOSSIBLE to capture the essence and communicate the goodness in a single IG post, so I’m going to need all of you to promise me you’ll read the book. “Drawing on her lifetime journey to know her family’s history, Lisa Sharon Harper weaves a captivating story that begins with Maudlin Magee, Sambo Game, and their child, Fortune, Harper’s first nonindigenous ancestor born on American soil, and progresses through eight succeeding generations. Harper shows how American ideas, customs, and laws robbed her ancestors—and the ancestors of so many others—of their humanity and the opportunity to flourish. America was built upon systems and structures that blessed some and cursed others, allowing Americans of European descent to benefit from the colonization, genocide, enslavement, rape, and exploitation of people of color.” (inside book jacket) I got to take part in a Zoom conversation with Lisa when the book first came out, and it was such a gift. She is a brilliant and beautiful human being and a gift to all of us. THANK YOU, Lisa, for pouring your heart and soul into this gorgeous and powerful and important book.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lisa Sharon Harper's new book, Fortune, is an important book to read this year
*by A***J on February 9, 2022*

In Fortune, Lisa Sharon Harper pieces together fragments of her family’s history from every bit of available evidence—living relatives’ memories, archival records, her own DNA, laws in the times and places they lived. She tells us about the African and Native American tribes her family came from, what their people were known for before they were enslaved. Shows them as parents and children ripped away from each other. When known detail is scant, she adds in imaginings of her ancestors washing dishes after a favorite meal, or holding a bucket of water on the farm as the census workers walk up. She puts flesh on their bones and lets us see her ancestors over generations, repeatedly coming up against the unjust, racist laws of the times in which they lived. This is not only a recounting of her family’s trauma, but also a guide for repair and collective healing. In a time when states are legislating against teaching about the history of racism in the United States, it is vital that we read this work. Letting ourselves feel and care for the fortunes of this particular family opens us to considering the ways that laws and systems have affected so many others, and thus considering our role in making things right. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Exceptional Blend of Family Storytelling and National Narrative
*by D***Y on March 22, 2022*

Lisa Sharon Harper’s Fortune is an exceptional journey through the intersections of one particular family’s history and the history of the United States, painfully but beautifully illustrating the impact of national policies and prejudices on the lives of flesh-and-blood individuals. Tracing her family’s journey from some of the earliest slave ships of the Middle Passage through the Revolutionary Era, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, down to the present day, Harper exposes the pernicious myth that our choices are not significantly shaped by the circumstances we inherit from previous generations. On the contrary, our legacy demands not only the clear-eyed truth-telling that Harper offers, but also a commitment and responsibility to repairing the harms of the past that continue to haunt our present sufferings. This book is especially beneficial because it puts a face to figures and a story to statistics, humanizing the American drama writ both large and small. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand the way historical traumas ripple through generations and communities and offers direction for the brave, responsible souls seeking to heal these generational wounds.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.nz/products/364966054-fortune-how-race-broke-my-family-and-the-world-how](https://www.desertcart.nz/products/364966054-fortune-how-race-broke-my-family-and-the-world-how)

---

*Product available on Desertcart New Zealand*
*Store origin: NZ*
*Last updated: 2026-02-18*