Blanche among the Talented Tenth (Paperback)

by Barbara Neely (Author)
Key Phrases: jogging couple, terrace stairs, Amber Cove, Madame Rosa, Arthur Hill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In her second novel, Neely addresses the issue of color-based bigotry within the black community. As a child, Blanche White was taunted by her black classmates as "Tar Baby," and so she sets out less than enthusiastically for Amber Cove, a posh Maine resort filled with light-skinned blacks. The trip will get her out of Boston, however ("the most racist city in which she'd ever lived"), and give her a chance to see if her niece and nephew, who are spending the summer there, are picking up "hincty ideas" from what her friend Ardell calls "Caucasian-ettes." Despite an initially frosty reception at Amber Cove Inn, Blanche quickly makes friends with Mattie Harris, an "arrogant old girl"; catches the eye of Robert Stuart, a handsome pharmacist from the nearby town; and picks up the latest news--that Faith Brown, who routinely dug up and revealed dirt on others, was accidentally electrocuted while bathing. When a cove resident commits suicide, leaving behind a note implicating himself in Faith's death, Mattie decides that she and Blanche must get to the bottom of things. Blanche continues to appeal in her so-what-if-I've-got-an-attitude way, but while her first outing, Blanche on the Lam , was a mystery with a bit of message, this one is a message with a bit of mystery.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
Segregation is alive and well at Maine's exclusive Amber Cove seaside resort. But it's segregation between the Insiders--light- skinned African-American professionals like pioneering feminist Mattie Harris, her godson Hank (an MIT history professor), and the nervously proper Tatterson family--and the Outsiders, dark-skinned upstarts like Tina Jackson, the dreadlocked beauty involved with Durant Tatterson, and Blanche White, the caustic domestic who, relocated from North Carolina to Boston, thinks she is taking a vacation from detective work (Blanche on the Lam, 1992). No such luck: Not only was bullying Insider gossip Faith Brown electrocuted in her bathtub the night before Blanche arrived, but Hank has vanished into the Atlantic, leaving behind a note admitting that he killed her. So where's the mystery? In Faith's purse, where Blanche, goaded by an intruder who unwisely thought to discourage her, finds a cache of papers whose nasty secrets make it clear that Faith was a lot more vicious than she looked--and that certain Insiders are protecting much more than their social standing. Even so, tracking down the victims of Faith's treachery makes for a pretty limp mystery that, as in Blanche's debut, takes a back seat to an acerbic portrait of class infighting at its most corrosive. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140250360
• ISBN-13: 978-0140250367
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #715,683 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #4 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( N ) > Neely, Barbara

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very well written but not enough action for my tastes, February 22, 2000

By A Customer

I liked this Blanche book a lot more than I liked the first one, Blanche On The Lam. Whereas I found the ending to the first book in the series a bit too much like a soap opera plot this mystery was far more satisfying. The Blanche books are extremely well-written and Ms. Neely consistently addresses class, social, gender and ethnic issues that I, as a gay white male, would never have considered based upon my own experiences, though I can often relate to what she says. For that reason alone the Blanche books are worth reading. However, for my tastes the Blanche books are a bit too tedious. I read mysteries for the fun of it and the first two Blanche books just didn't have the action I crave to keep me up past my bedtime rapidly turning pages. However, as I mentioned earlier, the "educational" factor alone was enough to interest me and Ms. Neely is a good writer who knows how to richly develop characters. I'm sure I'm hooked enough to continue with the series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good detective, great setting., June 2, 1999

By A Customer

As a reader of three mystery novels a week (average), I know there isn't much new in the plotting of a book--the formula is pretty familiar to me. But this is one novel in which I didn't want the mysteries to be solved, because then the book would end. Blanch would take her adopted children and her all-too-normal middle-aged frustrations and go home from the posh resort--and I would lose a friend. Blanche and I don't share an ethnic or social background, but we sure do share a lot of frustrations with teenaged children, social climbers, middle-aged bodies, and fickle men.

And, it's Blanche's quick wit and humanity that enables her to solve the mystery at the same time she provides a valuable insight into her life and values, and into my own.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you've ever been to Martha's Vineyard - you'll understand, July 15, 2002

By A Customer

If you've ever been to Martha's Vineyard you will understand how thoroughly she described the African-American society in this book from your own personal experience. I enjoyed how she had trepidation about describing what she did for a living to the upper crust of the community. I enjoyed her personal intuitive tug-of-war regarding the pros & cons of dating a local man. Most importantly, as a woman, she was great at picking up clues and reading human nature. This was generally enjoyable nevertheless one may find it difficult as your personal pain resurfaces when she describes her personal experiences at being teased because she's dark skinned or the negative experiences or teasing of being light-skinned.