Caucasia: A Novel [B1824]

1999 PB, clean with minor cover wear. From the author of New People and Colored Television, the extraordinary national bestseller that launched Danzy Senna's literary career. "Superbly illustrates the emotional toll that politics and race take . . Haunting." -The New York Times Book Review. Birdie and Cole are the daughters of a black father and a white mother, intellectuals and activists in the Civil Rights Movement in 1970s Boston. The sisters are so close that they speak their own language, yet Birdie, with her light skin and straight hair, is often mistaken for white, while Cole is dark enough to fit in with the other kids at school. Despite their differences, Cole is Birdie's confidant, her protector, the mirror by which she understands herself. Then their parents' marriage collapses. One night Birdie watches her father and his new girlfriend drive away with Cole. Soon Birdie and her mother are on the road as well, drifting across the country in search of a new home. But for Birdie, home will always be Cole. Haunted by the loss of her sister, she sets out a desperate search for the family that left her behind. A modern classic, Caucasia is at once a powerful coming of age story and a groundbreaking work on identity and race in America.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: " It took me a while to get through this but I found it very affecting and informative/insightful. I've read other books by this author and she writes evocatively and empathetically of the mixed-race experience...in this case primarily told through the eyes of a lighter-skinned child as she grows up through her teenage years - living with her white mother and "passing" as white while missing her black father and darker skinned sister . . and missing the experience of living as a black person."; "This was a good one! Really enjoyed the characters, family, and world-building. The prose was beautiful. I was invested in Birdie's story and witnessing her growing up. I also like how the social issues of race, gender, advocacy, etc. were handled in a nuanced way, with no clear good/bad actors. I did feel like it began to drag a bit toward the end and I'm not really sure what to make of the ending! But, a very enjoyable read overall. Also, I was shocked this came out in the '90s! It reads extremely contemporary."; "So well written. The text kept drawing me in. To start in Boston at a height of racial tension, and look at it through the eyes of a child. Busing, passing as white, what was safe and not. Fascinating book."; "This was such an interesting premise, and this does a great job of showing how race is a social construct. It was interesting to see how Cole and Birdie's experiences differed depending on who they were with. All of the characters were so well written, and they all seemed believable."