The Rough Side of the Mountain: A Memoir

A poignant and inspiring memoir from the former mayor of Atlanta about her modest, hardscrabble upbringing and fully appreciating the selfless, loving, fierce, and altogether Southern-twinged lessons her family taught her. Long before Keisha Lance Bottoms rose to prominence in politics, she was a daddy's girl from the Westside of Atlanta--the baby of her family who did well in school, though she talked too much in class, an outgoing kid who dreamt of growing up to be elegant and charismatic like her parents, cool like her older siblings and big cousins, and the pride of her very large, Southern family. After law school, Bottoms worked as an attorney, served as a judge, and was elected to City Council and the mayorship, where she garnered national attention for her leadership during the pandemic and George Floyd protests. Later, she was appointed senior advisor in President Joe Biden's administration. Yet Bottoms felt disquieted internally. She was in her early fifties and approaching the age that her beloved father was when he died.