The House Behind the Cedars (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) [Paperback]

Charles W. Chesnutt (Author), Donald B. Gibson (Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics | Publication Date: April 1, 1993

Explores the lives and fates of two young African-Americans who decide to pass for white in order to claim their share of the American dream. By the author of "The Marrow of Tradition".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932), an American writer, was considered the first African-American novelist. Noted for his subtle treatment of racial themes, he was awarded the Spingarn Gold Medal in 1928 for his pioneering work as a literary artist in depicting black Americans. Chesnutt is best known for The Conjure Woman (1898), a collection of dialect stories about slave life.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140186859
• ISBN-13: 978-0140186857
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading for historical insight, August 29, 2005

By 

beth black (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The House Behind the Cedars (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

If published today, I would have given this book 3 stars because of the amount of contrivance it contains. But considering that it was first published in 1900, it must be given higher esteem. Historically, the study it provides of being biracial (considered Black then) and able to pass as white in the Carolinas 100 years ago is invaluable to the African American literary canon. The dilemmas faced by this ability are brilliantly portrayed in this book. I was fascinated with the dilemmas whites and "dark-skinned" blacks faced socially when dealing with the Rena and her brother. I especially enjoyed the conversation between her brother John and the town lawyer when John asks him to teach him to become a lawyer - I thought that was the most brilliantly written passage in the book.

Despite the contrivances and that it takes a bit to get into the writer's style, this was a compelling read. Though not especially likeable, the characters are interesting, complex and well-drawn.

I recommend this to anyone interested in the racial history of the South after abolition.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly engaging, February 16, 2005

By 

Fitzgerald Fan (Royal Oak, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The House Behind the Cedars (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

I had to read this book for a Senior Seminar in English and was surprised to find that it was an entertaining read. Granted, one must suspend disbelief in a few places in order to allow for coincidences but what Chesnutt does is something of a pastiche of different writing genres. He also goes to the very limits in portraying the many gradations that existed in the Southern color line.
In truth, most of the characters are not necessarily likeable, but one cannot help turning the pages to see who will do what next. Those who chanced to pass for white were never far from an intrigue of some kind.
This is a fast read as well as an entertaining one, and while Chesnutt plays with many different styles and humors, it is not without historical merit.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Important in context, possibly, but not a very good book today, December 3, 2007

By 

Rachel E. Dillon (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The House Behind the Cedars (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

It's possible that I'm missing something, but I didn't find this book engaging or enjoyable. (I'm told that _The Marrow Of Tradition_, also by Chesnutt, is much better.) Chesnutt does do a good job of exaggerating and parodying the tropes of late 1800s sentimental fiction, but the contemporary reader is likely to find these a bit hackneyed. Few if any of the characters are sympathetic, the action seems forced, and the ending is disappointing both literally and thematically. That said, it's unclear that Chesnutt could have ended the book any other way, and there are some subtle details that push against the prevailing mores of the time. Watch especially the conversation between John and Judge Straight, and the comparative lack of retribution for John's life choices as compared to Rena's.

If you're interested in late 1800s stories of race passing by African-American authors that provide a heavy-handed moral, try Frances Harper or Pauline Hopkins (or the other Chesnutt mentioned above, though I haven't read it myself) --- if you want to see this exact same plot arc done so much better (and with the same moral!) in 1850, read Frank J. Webb's _The Garies And Their Friends._

There are plenty of scholarly reasons to read this book, but if you don't have one and are looking for entertainment or personal enlightenment, I'd point you away from this book and toward _The Garies_.