The Marrow of Tradition

A landmark in the history of African American fiction, this gripping 1901 novel was among the first literary challenges to racial stereotypes. Its tragic history of two families unfolds against the backdrop of the post-Reconstruction South and climaxes with a race riot based on an actual 1898 incident. The author relied upon eyewitness accounts of the riot to create an authentic setting and mood, and his sensitive artistry transcends a simple re-telling of the facts with a dramatic rendering of the conflict between racism and social justice. Unabridged republication of the classic 1901 edition. AUTHOR: One of America’s first great African-American novelists, Charles Chesnutt (1858 1932) exposed the harsh dimensions of Southern prejudice before and after the Civil War. Powerful and passionate, his novels present richly imagined characters, both black and white, striving to make better lives for themselves.