The Gilded Years

As Anita Hemmings enters her senior year at Vassar College in 1896, her academic achievements and striking beauty seem to herald a promising future. Her roommate, Lottie Taylor, the daughter of a prominent New York family, introduces her to a world she scarcely imagined. Anything might be possible: graduate fellowships; marriage to a Harvard student. Yet such possibilities will crumble unless Anita can continue to hide an essential fact: she is African American. Passing as white to receive advanced education requires a complex set of fictions. The development of Anita's character and depiction of her struggles are the novel's chief strengths. When she has to listen to racist comments without reacting, concoct stories about her family, or field questions from instructors, we realize that small missteps can lead to disaster. Once Lottie learns the truth, her efforts to ruin Anita demonstrate her society's determination to maintain its privilege. The leap from Anita's postgraduation decisions to her daughter's arrival at Vassar in 1924 leaves readers wondering about the interim. Fortunately, Tanabe's afterword fills in some of the gaps.