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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Skokie Public Library.
Jun 19, 2017SuzeParker rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
"The Gilded Years" is an fictionalized story about Anita Hemmings, who in real life was the first black woman to graduate from Vassar. Anita, who "passed" as white through most of her college career, was outed by her roommate in her final semester. The whole scenario makes for interesting historical fiction. The book is well researched, and Karin Tanabe portrays the Gilded Age's glamour, juxtaposing it with the poverty of the have-nots. There were a few issues that niggled at me: The characters' motivations were often obscure, and it wasn't clear how certain African-American characters rose to such prominent positions when racial bias was so strong. Clearer depictions of those things would have made the characters, and the book overall, more realistic for me. Still, it was worth the read to learn about Anita's story.