Paul Marchand, F.M.C. [Hardcover]

Charles Waddell Chesnutt (Author), Matthew Wilson (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1998

Charles Chesnutt wrote this novel at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s. Never before published, the novel disputes prevailing attitudes of the time on racial character and identity. In a surprising plot reversal, Chesnutt deals with the subject of miscegenation, and his hero Paul Marchand is an admirable male with inner strength.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Charles Chestnutt's 1921 novel begins with a startling premise: expatriate Paul Marchand, a "Free Man of Color," returns to New Orleans only to discover that he is now officially white. Thanks to a will, he has become the head of a rich, powerful--and racist-- Creole family. To claim his birthright, however, he must renounce his mixed-race wife and children, as well as all the principles of his upbringing. Novelist Chestnutt was the most popular and critically acclaimed African-American writer of his day. By the time he wrote Paul Marchand, F.M.C., however, he had fallen from favor, and publishers universally rejected the novel. Its publication marks a recent resurgence of interest in his writing, and it's clear to see why; if Chestnutt's purple prose and melodramatic plot twists sometimes seem dated, his ideas do not. With its dramatic schism between nature and nurture, Marchand's dilemma poses some peculiarly modern questions about the meaning of race. Like many current theorists, Chestnutt saw race as a social construct rather than as an irreversible biological fact, perhaps because of his own background. He was himself light-skinned enough to pass for white, and knowing that he decided not to do so gives this fascinating novel added resonance.

From Library Journal

Reminiscent of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, this tale of morality and choices was written in 1921 by respected black author Chesnutt but never published. It takes place in New Orleans in 1821, at a time when the antebellum South is in its full glory, complete with all of its charms and evils. Slavery is the backbone of its prosperity, and its inhabitants, both white and colored (e.g., those of mixed race, whose status was determined according to bloodline) enjoy freedom and great luxury. Paul Marchand, an educated and wealthy quadroon (one-quarter black) who has lived for many years in France, is suddenly declared the head of an old and powerful white family. This twist of fate presents him with a grave moral and personal dilemma: he can continue to live as a free man of color, or he can renounce everything that is familiar and dear to him and assume a new identity as a "respected" white man. Racism is the driving force of this tale?all are motivated by it, all react to it, and few challenge it. Ultimately, nothing changes. A brief, thought-provoking novel.?Janis Williams, Shaker Heights P.L., OH
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578060559
• ISBN-13: 978-1578060559
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,110,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lost treasure, January 18, 1999

By 

Cecelia E Connally (Cleveland, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paul Marchand, F.M.C. (Hardcover)

This is not my first Chesnutt book. Over the years I read the Marrow of Tradition, House Behind the Cedars and several of Chesnutt's short stories. PAUL MARCHAND FMS is truly a lost treasure. The introduction is extremely well done and gives an excellent explanation to new readers of this genre. All readers will get a true sense of the racial lines that exsisted in early 19th century New Orleans and how some of these same feelings exist today. If you have not been a reader of Chesnutt, this is a good place to start. I'm sure that you will come to love his writings just as I have. As a native of Cleveland, Ohio, I'm proud to remind all readers that Chesnutt spent most of his live in Cleveland and is buried in Cleveland's historic Lakeview Cemetery.

5.0 out of 5 stars Paul Marchand, April 25, 2008

By 

Helen Minor - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paul Marchand, F. M. C. (Paperback)

I purchased the book for my daughter and she likes it. the book is in good condition.