Dec 28, 2009

A Lesson before Dying | What Do I Read Next?

Gaines’s 1964 novel, Catherine Carmier shows how characters deal with decisions based on their beliefs. Catherine, the daughter of a rich Creole, falls in love with Jackson Bradley, a black man caught between his love for Catherine and his understanding of the world beyond the community in which they live.

Also a story of disallowed love, Of Love and Dust continues Gaines’s search for human dignity. Published by Dial in 1967, Gaines’s second novel portrays the doomed relationship between a black man and his white boss’s wife.

Many critics consider...