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    Tag: racism

    And the flower is still up on the hillside

    Dear Marita, As The Purple Flower (1928) opens, we are told that we are in “The Middle-of-Things-as-They-are”, in an unusual setting: “Might be here, there or anywhere—or…… Read more “And the flower is still up on the hillside”

    11 de March de 2021 by juliana

    Careering along like drunken drivers

    Dear Shelagh, A Taste of Honey (1958) centres on teenage Jo and her mother, Helen. They are always falling behind on rent, and, as the story starts,…… Read more “Careering along like drunken drivers”

    8 de December de 2020 by juliana

    When will thy sublime maxim pierce the human hearts,

    Dear Maria Firmina, Úrsula (c.1859) is a tale of two books. On the one hand, we have a doomed love story between the eponymous heroine and a…… Read more “When will thy sublime maxim pierce the human hearts,”

    4 de December de 20207 de December de 2020 by juliana

    What was common could also be a flower

    Dear Gwendolyn, Maud Martha (1953) centres on a working-class black girl coming of age in pre-WWII Chicago. When the story opens, the eponymous protagonist is about seven yeas…… Read more “What was common could also be a flower”

    24 de November de 2020 by juliana

    Stolen waters are the sweetest

    Dear Jessie, Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral (1928) centres on Angela Murray, a middle-class girl from a black family in Philadelphia. Angela and her mother, Mattie,…… Read more “Stolen waters are the sweetest”

    20 de November de 2020 by juliana

    A fire around my soul

    Dear Frances, Iola Leroy; or, Shadows Uplifted (1892) centres on the eponymous heroine, Iola Leroy, the daughter of a white slave owner and one of his slaves.…… Read more “A fire around my soul”

    17 de November de 2020 by juliana

    It isn’t a circle–it is simply a long line

    Dear Lorraine, I love how inconclusive your portrait of a 1950’s working-class African American family is in A Raisin in the Sun (1959) – the way it…… Read more “It isn’t a circle–it is simply a long line”

    3 de July de 2020 by juliana

    Appearances, she knew now, had a way sometimes of not fitting facts

    Dear Nella, Passing (1929) is a book about being labelled, being defined by other people based on what they see (and on the prejudices they carry). It…… Read more “Appearances, she knew now, had a way sometimes of not fitting facts”

    28 de February de 2020 by juliana

    My spirit rose to meet this challenge

    Dear Jamaica, The Autobiography of My Mother (1996) is an exploration of the self as other – and back. The book is centred on Xuela Claudette Richardson,…… Read more “My spirit rose to meet this challenge”

    22 de February de 201811 de December de 2018 by juliana

    For this book is the talking voice that runs on,

    Dear Stevie, Once I entered your Novel on Yellow Paper (1936), I immediately noticed three things: that I was being held captive; that I was complicit in…… Read more “For this book is the talking voice that runs on,”

    12 de May de 2017 by juliana

    And it could have been any street in the city

    Dear Ann, How can one write a naturalist novel and still convey strong symbolic effect? I don’t know the answer, but I think you achieved that. The…… Read more “And it could have been any street in the city”

    22 de February de 2017 by juliana

    They didn’t dare before; now they do, that’s all

    Dear Anna, I was halfway through Manja (tr. Kate Phillips, 2003. Manja: Ein Roman um 5 Kinder, 1938) this past week, when your book acquired a new…… Read more “They didn’t dare before; now they do, that’s all”

    13 de November de 201613 de November de 2016 by juliana

    Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess,

    Dear Nella, I’m impressed by how autobiographical your novel Quicksand is. The protagonist, Helga Crane, much like yourself, is the daughter of a Scandinavian mother and a…… Read more “Somewhere, within her, in a deep recess,”

    26 de February de 201628 de February de 2020 by juliana

    Some of us cried

    Dear Julie, Your second novel, The Buddha in the Attic, centers around Japanese women brought over to San Francisco as picture brides, in the early 1900s, to…… Read more “Some of us cried”

    30 de October de 201410 de August de 2016 by juliana

    it’s the wound that knows the texture of the pain

    Dear Elizabeth, I admit I was a bit reluctant to read your novel We need new names (2013). It covered all the topics typically considered “African” by…… Read more “it’s the wound that knows the texture of the pain”

    27 de August de 20144 de November de 2016 by juliana

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