What Do I Read Next?
For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf (1975) is Shange’s pioneering “choreopoem” play, which merges poetry, music, and dance to delve into the dynamics between black men and women. This piece, far more experimental than Betsey Brown, cemented Shange’s international acclaim.
Shange’s debut novel, Sassafrass, Cypress and Indigo (1985), intertwines prose, poetry, letters, and recipes to depict the lives of three sisters, each an artist in her own right, as they navigate challenges involving love, feminism, racial politics, and creativity.
Brown Girl, Brownstones (1959) by Paule Marshall narrates the journey of a young Caribbean-American girl growing up in New York, discovering her identity amidst her family, heritage, neighborhood, and the vast city beyond.
Gloria Naylor’s Linden Hills (1985) is named after the wealthy black suburb where its protagonists, two writers, live. In this novel, Naylor examines the hollowness of wealth and the importance of social class among African Americans, drawing imagery from Dante’s classic Inferno.
Sarah Phillips (1984), by Andrea Lee, is a coming-of-age tale about a young, upper-middle-class African-American woman striving to reconcile her racial identity with her unique economic advantages. This book provides a rare glimpse into the high society of the black elite.
Jessie Fauset, a prominent author from the Harlem Renaissance, centered much of her fiction on educated, middle-class black characters. Her 1931 novel Chinaberry Tree follows two generations of women, portraying life in a prosperous and secluded black community.
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