This work has some historic importance as a work of Black American literature, but I can't say I personally liked it. It's historic relevance is buried beneath a distanced, dry and moralizing narration and the overwrought sentimentality common to cheap melodrama of the late 19th century.

Although wr

Misery in History

This was my first experience reading Dunbar. It certainly won’t be my last. This tragedy novel is a sad read because it likely mirrors the experience of so many other African Americans who experienced bigotry and intolerance after emancipation. The story read like Dunbar was writing

Classics are hit and miss for me. I see the importance of this book, but didn't enjoy the reading experience.

A Pioneering Novel By A Great African American Poet

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 -- 1906)is best remembered as a poet. He wrote in both dialect and formal English. His famous poems include "We wear the mask", "Sympathy", which includes the line "I know why the caged bird sings", and "Frederick Douglass

My feelings on this book are confused. Is this a 2 star book, a 4 star book, or a 5 star book? I really have no idea. I settled on 3 star because I thought it was closest to neutral.

First, in terms of writing skill--5 stars for sure. Wonderfully well written. It's a short book, but there is a lot p

“Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”

I take the quote from the great modern activist James Baldwin. Although this is an activist novel of sorts, there are no quotable passages that pertain to its real significance as a testament to the post-abolition treatment

Lies, secrets, injustice, madness, sadness, gladness, and finally the will to just continue on is the story of Fannie and Berry Hamilton. The couple survived slavery and emancipation to settle for what they thought was a good master and life. To their dismay, they find out differently. In the end fo