Customer Reviews

Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow: The Tragic Courtship and Marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore

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Paul Laurence Dunbar was a magnificent poet who is not known as well as he should be today. Alice Moore is a fascinating woman who deserves to be remembered in her own right. Together they would have seemed to be the perfect couple, living charmed lives. Sadly, their relationship was far from perfect. This book enables us to understand the forces that made these two talented people what they were, that drew them together, and that pulled them apart. Too often, African-American history deals only with slavery in the past and urban poverty in the present. This book shows the "ebony elite" that is too little known, in both its proudest and most difficult aspects. It is a fascinating story of individuals and of the culture that impacted their lives in many unfortunate ways. A compelling story, well-written.

I think that this book was excellent in that it provides a foundation for finding new ways to analyze history, seeing as how the history we are generally taught excludes people who were not members of mainstream society. A history that only focuses on mainstream society does not represent all of society and almost behaves as if other people did not exist or play major roles. Eleanor Alexander acknowledged that while there was not much documentation on the courtship and relations of the African American middle class, she was trying to start from the limited sources that werre available to provide a new perspective. In addition, this novel touched upon some very real issues that are known but underplayed, including the racism and self-hatred that was very prevalent among black people and the patriarchal society supported sexism that degraded the value of women. Eleanor Alexander never once claimed that her ideas were facts, but she provided valid reasons to support her claims. For example, she explained the fact that Alice's history is undocumented but she allowed room for the possibility that Alice may have unofficially told of her own history in her short stories. She also presented proof in Alice's own words that Alice disliked darker-skinned blacks and that Paul, a dark-skinned black who exhibited self-hatred because of his color, disliked yet desired light-skinned women, the closest to the American definition of beauty, a white woman. Alexander posed questions that would make the reader think "Was this a possible factor?" However, she did not attack Alice or Paul or make claims that could not be validated. Perhaps she may have appeared critical in her analysis of Paul and Alice and even society as a whole, but most importantly, she was objective. She did not make up things that were not true, and perhaps learning the negative truths about someone as famous as Paul Laurence Dunbar or his wife is unpleasing, but I appreciate her honesty. Another magnificent thing about this book is its analysis of gender relations and some of the practices that still exist today. The past does shape the present, and an excellent example she used was of rape and how society attributed more blame to the woman, as if the woman somehow did something to deserve it, and that is still a widespread problem today. Therefore, it is important that we are provided with an encompassing presentation of history that allows us to see how many problems arose in the past and why they are still perpetuated today. Like any writer, she has the right to present her ideas, and she deserves credit for the fact that she presented them with documented primary sources that urge us to consider at the very least the possible validity of her claims.

It is understandable if one says that she scratched upon surfaces that she did not follow through deeply, but it is important to keep in mind that she stated repeatedly that there was limited documentation and that she was merely trying to provide new possibilies that would stir more people to follow her lead and delve deeper.

This book is riveting and provided fascinating new information about Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Moore Dunbar. At the same time, it scratches the surface in too many places, relying on feminist cliches instead of substantive analysis. This is clearly a dissertation that was published with out the skilled editing that allows the author to reach new conclusions. Too many times, I feel that a window had been opened for me to get a glimpse into lives, then swung shut before insights had been fully explored.