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A review by axmed
Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
another excellent novel, full of humor & critique, this time of the black bourgeoisie and colorism and it is done in a very Blanche White manner and i loved it! here are some of my favourite passages.
Anytime you get this many light-skinned black people together at least half of them are going to be folks who act light-skinned.
[..]
He wouldn’t be the first light-skinned man who’d thought her blackness meant an automatic trip to paradise in gratitude for his willingness to screw someone as black as her.
[..]
There was nothing in the way these people moved on the dance floor that said their people invented rhythm. There was no swing in their walk, none of the shoulder, hip, or hand language that spoke volumes among black people she knew. Was having your juices watered the price of living and working outside the black community, as she was sure most of these folks did?
[..]
She now understood that her urge to hug trees, talk to the ocean, and lean on the dark as though it were a mother’s welcoming arms came from the same place as other women’s need for church and god.
Anytime you get this many light-skinned black people together at least half of them are going to be folks who act light-skinned.
[..]
He wouldn’t be the first light-skinned man who’d thought her blackness meant an automatic trip to paradise in gratitude for his willingness to screw someone as black as her.
[..]
There was nothing in the way these people moved on the dance floor that said their people invented rhythm. There was no swing in their walk, none of the shoulder, hip, or hand language that spoke volumes among black people she knew. Was having your juices watered the price of living and working outside the black community, as she was sure most of these folks did?
[..]
She now understood that her urge to hug trees, talk to the ocean, and lean on the dark as though it were a mother’s welcoming arms came from the same place as other women’s need for church and god.