by Barbara Turner Sachs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1984
Very dimly one can see what first-novelist Sachs is trying to bring off here--but her rackety, addled mÉlange (Ragtime style, musical-comedy tone, racial-prejudice satire) falls apart at the starting gate. It's 1920 and Edward ""Wyck"" Hanover, 18, is the missing link in a ruling New York family ""that planted their family tree in Europe"" generations ago. Wyck is weak-eyed, slow, stammering, and insecure. But he's loved by little Mary James--who's ""olive-skinned, with a slim, rippling body, restless hands, long liquid legs, and half-undressed feet."" She loves. He loves. They learn to make love in a secret hotel hideaway. And though the mighty Hanovers would never agree to a daughter-in-law who's a nobody from Pelham, the lovers marry anyway. . . and then the horrid truth is revealed. Mary--and this is news to her--is one-eighth Negro! Enter hordes of journalists, flashbulbs, and the Klan. Mary stands firm: ""Nobody, not all those straight-minded, gray-faced, blue-nosed, blue butts can stop us now!"" Ah, but they can. Muddled Wyck is kidnapped. There's a sensational trial: Is Mary guilty of fraud, ""passing"" to get at Hanover money? Love letters--hot stuff--are read, with women barred from the courtroom; at one point Mary appears starkers before a jury for an exotic kind of evidence. Wyck withers--while Mary does a number in Harlem to tell the old time throng: I'm ""just plain old Mary. . . famous because one big galoot went and took a whole lot of love away. . . ."" And after the verdict there'll be a triumphant cakewalk, with Mary lifted aloft by Red Caps. Occasionally Sachs does hook onto some fresh movement in her honky-tonky overkill--but this ambitious attempt to sing-song a time and its mores is an out-of-tune experiment overall, lacking the necessary skill and subtlety.
Pub Date: March 1, 1984
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Congdon & Weed--dist. by St. Martins
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1984
Categories: FICTION
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.