The Gilded Years: A Novel

Good book all the way through... ending notes even better.

This book about Anita was captivating! I found myself both cheering and tearing up at different parts of the story. The level of research and writing skills displayed in this book was impressive. The only small critique I have is that the narrator sounded a bit stiff at times, but I understand that she was likely focused on enunciating her words clearly and accurately.

This is a fictionalized tell of the senior year of Anita Hemmings, the first know African American graduate of Vassar. Anita graduated in 1897, but before she could, her roommate, Louise Taylor discovered her secret and tried to get her denied her degree. The reader can walk with Anita through her whirlwind final year in college. She's survived this long through being extremely well behaved and slightly distant. However, this year she finds herself rooming with Lottie Taylor, a wealthy heiress from New York City. Although association with Lottie's rarified social circle comes with a number of distinct perks, it put Lottie in a spotlight which is extremely dangerous for her.

This novel is moving in its attempt to capture the life of a Black woman who has chosen pass is white in order to get the best education possible. Some passages are quite poignant as Anita is forced to act out the racist mores of the time in order to avoid suspicion. I thought the author did a good job of capturing the fear and loneliness of Anita's position.

What was rather bizarre about this book is the way Lottie Taylor steals most of the limelight. In a book which is ostensibly about Anita, Lottie's wealth, personality, and ambition so frequently are the driving force of the plot that I began to wonder what the author was getting at. See seemed obsessed with the grandeur of this period in history and jumped at any opportunity to leave Vassar behind and sweep the narrative off to the opera or numerous palatial mansions.

This stole a lot of time from Anita and her journey. The result is this book ended up feeling like Lottie's book. Moreover, Anita's discovery is framed by the narrative and the protagonist herself as her own fault. She is blamed for letting Lottie's riches distract her and for losing sight of her purpose at Vassar. It also felt like the book was frame Anita as betraying Lottie's trust by letting Lottie spend money on her and give her gifts while "lying" to her.

When Lottie betrays her to the school administration, it is hardly her first betrayal. She's constantly treated Anita poorly, betrayed confidences, and made it abundantly clear that she sees Anita as a useful prop in her own life and not a real friend. However, throughout the book, Anita forgives her again and again and doesn't even seem that mad about the way her former friend tried to ruin her life and reputation.

When I read the author's note and found out that the real Louise Taylor wasn't actually a rich socialite it just made matters worse. It was clear that the author wanted to write a wish-fulfillment book about the excesses of white New York millionaires at the time and tacked on this business about Anita Hemmings to add interest.

Moreover, the writing isn't very good. The characters feel wooden and the scenes are stilted and shallow. None of the characters are that well developed, probably because so much time was spent describing mansions, and New York gossip. It finished the book mostly disappointed.

Although there isn't a great deal of intrigue, The Gilded Years is still an interesting period piece. The key focus is on Anita Hemmings, hidden in plain sight, who became the first biracial graduate of Vassar Collage. What held my attention, however, is the detailed peeks into "sophisticated" college life circa 1897. A good and gentle read.

This is the story of Anita Hemmings, who dreamed of attending Vassar since she was a young girl. She was a member of the class of 1897. This novel is a fictionalized account of a true story of the first African American woman to attend Vassar.

This book is about the first African-American woman, Anita Hemmings (maybe related to Sally, but it can't be proven), at Vassar. All she had to do besides being an excellent scholar and exemplary student was to pass as white, while her brother was able to be himself at MIT. The writing is pretty simplistic, but the history is so good I had to give it 4 stars. Vassar was a wonderful place instilling in the women, mostly society elites, superb education in the classics, languages, math, science and sports. Then these intelligent, independent women graduates were expected to serve their
communities by becoming wives and mothers. The ending of the book is so far fetched that I would have discounted it, if it hadn't been true.

Vassar College did not admit black women until the 1940's. However, two women - Anita Hemmings and her daughter Ellen Love - passed as white and graduated. This is a fantastic historical fiction of Anita's story, her family, and the wealthy roommate who hired a detective to trace Anita's family and reveal her secret. It's tantamount to a mystery - when and how will Anita be found out? Much of this story is fact based, although many characters, situations, and dialogue are invented. The writing suits the timeframe - the late 1890's - and, with rare exceptions, Northern attitudes turn out to be just as racist as that of any Southerner. The mothers of the Vassar students are suffragettes, but would be horrified to find out that their precious girls slept in the same room as "a Negress". More actual historical facts would have improved the afterword, but Anita's point of view is rendered most respectfully and sympathetically.