The Gilded Years: A Novel
Passing meets The House of Mirth in this “utterly captivating” (Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House) historical novel based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, the first black student to attend Vassar, who successfully passed as white—until she let herself grow too attached to the wrong person.
Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the country’s most exclusive school for women, Vassar College. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret that would have banned her from admission: Anita is the only African-American student ever to attend Vassar. With her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white, but now finds herself rooming with Louise “Lottie” Taylor, the scion of one of New York’s most prominent families.
Though Anita has kept herself at a distance from her classmates, Lottie’s sphere of influence is inescapable, her energy irresistible, and the two become fast friends. Pulled into her elite world, Anita learns what it’s like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white woman—the person everyone believes her to be—and even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. It’s only when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anita’s brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sister’s, that the situation becomes particularly perilous. And as Anita’s college graduation looms, those closest to her will be the ones to dangerously threaten her secret.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Gilded Age, an era when old money traditions collided with modern ideas, Tanabe has written an unputdownable and emotionally compelling story of hope, sacrifice, and betrayal—and a gripping account of how one woman dared to risk everything for the chance at a better life.
Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the country’s most exclusive school for women, Vassar College. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret that would have banned her from admission: Anita is the only African-American student ever to attend Vassar. With her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white, but now finds herself rooming with Louise “Lottie” Taylor, the scion of one of New York’s most prominent families.
Though Anita has kept herself at a distance from her classmates, Lottie’s sphere of influence is inescapable, her energy irresistible, and the two become fast friends. Pulled into her elite world, Anita learns what it’s like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white woman—the person everyone believes her to be—and even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. It’s only when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anita’s brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sister’s, that the situation becomes particularly perilous. And as Anita’s college graduation looms, those closest to her will be the ones to dangerously threaten her secret.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Gilded Age, an era when old money traditions collided with modern ideas, Tanabe has written an unputdownable and emotionally compelling story of hope, sacrifice, and betrayal—and a gripping account of how one woman dared to risk everything for the chance at a better life.
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Community Reviews
Interesting in light of current events. White people accepting black people but only in certain circumstances or to a certain extent.
4.5 stars
This is a fictional account of Anita Hemmings, the first African American student to graduate from Vassar College, only able to do so because she was white-passing. For four years, she lived a double life, hiding her family's true origins from her friends at school. At the eleventh hour, she is almost exposed, though she luckily was able to still obtain her degree. This book makes you root for Anita at every turn, not just because she is the only African American woman at her college, but because of her daring, fun, and witty personality.
I felt especially close to this book because I knew so many of the places mentioned. Anita grew up in Roxbury and returns there during break, but she has to lie and tell everyone she lives in Back Bay. She often talks about other colleges within the Seven Sisters like Wellesley and Radcliffe which had openly admitted African American students. She even talks about Binghamton, where my friend is from! While these aren't necessarily "merits" to the book, if you're one of my friends, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of hearing all the local locations. Unfortunately, this also was a sad reminder of how separated Boston really is, despite being known as a very liberal/open-minded city. According to Wikipedia, "The Boston Housing Authority actively segregated the city's public housing developments since at least 1941 and continued to do so despite the passage of legislation by the 156th Massachusetts General Court prohibiting racial discrimination or segregation in housing in 1950..."
This is definitely more fiction than history. In the afterword, Tanabe discusses how there really isn't much known about Anita Hemmings' personal life. This allowed her lots of room to imagine Anita's romantic dalliances, friendships, and her relationships with her professors and fellow students. As a result, I really enjoyed reading this as it was really easy to get through. At times, I wished I could know the "true story" more, but I understand that the author did her best with what she had. I appreciate that she did the legwork to find out the true name of her roomate, Louise Taylor, who tried to RUIN HER LIFE. She deserves to be exposed.
If you're interested, there is apparently a 2017 movie about this! It's called A White Lie and stars Zendaya. Karin Tanabe is listed as one of the writers.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book :) It was a fun read, informative, and just the right amount of emotional. Perfect for an interesting, but not too difficult read!
FYI: I don't know if Tanabe is white or not. Another review says she's half-white and half-Asian. Regardless, it felt like she really put her time into researching this book and doing her due diligence. However, as I'm also not Black, I can't pretend I'm any authority on this.
This is a fictional account of Anita Hemmings, the first African American student to graduate from Vassar College, only able to do so because she was white-passing. For four years, she lived a double life, hiding her family's true origins from her friends at school. At the eleventh hour, she is almost exposed, though she luckily was able to still obtain her degree. This book makes you root for Anita at every turn, not just because she is the only African American woman at her college, but because of her daring, fun, and witty personality.
I felt especially close to this book because I knew so many of the places mentioned. Anita grew up in Roxbury and returns there during break, but she has to lie and tell everyone she lives in Back Bay. She often talks about other colleges within the Seven Sisters like Wellesley and Radcliffe which had openly admitted African American students. She even talks about Binghamton, where my friend is from! While these aren't necessarily "merits" to the book, if you're one of my friends, I'm sure you'll get a kick out of hearing all the local locations. Unfortunately, this also was a sad reminder of how separated Boston really is, despite being known as a very liberal/open-minded city. According to Wikipedia, "The Boston Housing Authority actively segregated the city's public housing developments since at least 1941 and continued to do so despite the passage of legislation by the 156th Massachusetts General Court prohibiting racial discrimination or segregation in housing in 1950..."
This is definitely more fiction than history. In the afterword, Tanabe discusses how there really isn't much known about Anita Hemmings' personal life. This allowed her lots of room to imagine Anita's romantic dalliances, friendships, and her relationships with her professors and fellow students. As a result, I really enjoyed reading this as it was really easy to get through. At times, I wished I could know the "true story" more, but I understand that the author did her best with what she had. I appreciate that she did the legwork to find out the true name of her roomate, Louise Taylor, who tried to RUIN HER LIFE. She deserves to be exposed.
If you're interested, there is apparently a 2017 movie about this! It's called A White Lie and stars Zendaya. Karin Tanabe is listed as one of the writers.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book :) It was a fun read, informative, and just the right amount of emotional. Perfect for an interesting, but not too difficult read!
FYI: I don't know if Tanabe is white or not. Another review says she's half-white and half-Asian. Regardless, it felt like she really put her time into researching this book and doing her due diligence. However, as I'm also not Black, I can't pretend I'm any authority on this.
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