The House Behind the Cedars (1900) by Charles W. Chesnutt

 1,001 Novels: A Library of America

 The House Behind the Cedars (1900)

by Charles W. Chesnutt 

Fayetteville, North Carolina

North Carolina: 3/20

   I was under the impression that the only Fayetteville was the one in Arkansas, but here we are in Fayetteville North Carolina for this excellent minor classic, The House Behind the Cedars, written by bi-racial (that's not what they called it back then!) author, Charles. W. Chesnutt.  This is the kind of book I'd hope to see a lot more of in the 1,001 Novels project.  First, it's a book from the 19th century (I extend the 19th century through the beginning of World War I in 1914).  Second, it's a book with some wit to it, that also exists in a recognizable literary universe- allusions to Walter Scott and a 19th century version of a Renaissance Faire both appear in its pages.  Third, it's a point of view: That of the "passing" of people with African American ancestry for white, that is little encountered in contemporary literary culture. 

   Generally speaking, any actually readable American novel written before The Great Gatsby is a find, and I enjoyed reading The House Behind the Cedars, even if the frequent discussion of "the race question" is galling to contemporary ears.  Also, the frequent use of the n word, and not in a nice way, by bigoted Southern characters. You aren't going to get assigned The House Behind the Cedars in your introduction to American Lit class, let's put it that way.  I would love to find more books written before World War I on the 1,001 Novels: A Library of America list. Rediscovering 19th Century American Literature is a potential gold-mine, or silver-mine, anyway.