Black and White and Read All Over
Set in New York in the Roaring Twenties, this novel recounts the true story of a sensational trial involving Leonard Rhinelander, heir to the New York Rhinelander family’s real estate fortune, estimated to include two-thirds of the city, and his lover, Alice Jones, a working-class maid from New Rochelle, New York. Alice’s sister, Emily, narrates this almost unbelievable saga that begins with a chance encounter, evolves into a passionate love affair, and eventually marriage. That’s when the trouble begins.
The Rhinelander family uses all its legal ammunition in a trial to have Len’s marriage annulled by proving that Len did not know Alice was Black, and that she deceived him. Her father is half-West Indian, and her sister Emily is married to a Black man. The all-pervasive revival of the Ku Klux Klan, the intolerant attitudes toward interracial marriage, and the dower property rights of married women (they had just gotten the vote in 1920) are all openly revealed during the trial. The Klan threatens Alice’s family, while the tabloid press corps and crowds surround their home. Alice’s attorney, Lee Davis, explains that the crux of winning the case will be proving that there was no deception and that her skin color or race was of no importance to Len. The long and lurid trial tests the courage and strength of Alice and her family, invades her and Len’s privacy by public exposure of their salacious love letters, and delves into the meaning of race, class, and social attitudes toward women in a society in post-World War I cultural flux. The twists and turns will keep you guessing and wondering what the lasting effects of this trial will be, especially on the lives of Alice and Len.
An engrossing and captivating novel that resonates with this boisterous era.
