Charles Chestnutt's 1921 novel begins with a startling premise: expatriate Paul Marchand, a "Free Man of Color," returns to New Orleans only to discover that he is now officially white. Thanks to a will, he has become the head of a rich, powerful--and racist-- Creole family. To claim his birthright, however, he must renounce his mixed-race wife and children, as well as all the principles of his upbringing. Novelist Chestnutt was the most popular and critically acclaimed African-American writer of his day. By the time he wrote Paul Marchand, F.M.C., however, he had fallen from favor, and publishers universally rejected the novel. Its publication marks a recent resurgence of interest in his writing, and it's clear to see why; if Chestnutt's purple prose and melodramatic plot twists sometimes seem dated, his ideas do not. With its dramatic schism between nature and nurture, Marchand's dilemma poses some peculiarly modern questions about the meaning of race. Like many current theorists, Chestnutt saw race as a social construct rather than as an irreversible biological fact, perhaps because of his own background. He was himself light-skinned enough to pass for white, and knowing that he decided not to do so gives this fascinating novel added resonance.


From Library Journal
Reminiscent of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, this tale of morality and choices was written in 1921 by respected black author Chesnutt but never published. It takes place in New Orleans in 1821, at a time when the antebellum South is in its full glory, complete with all of its charms and evils. Slavery is the backbone of its prosperity, and its inhabitants, both white and colored (e.g., those of mixed race, whose status was determined according to bloodline) enjoy freedom and great luxury. Paul Marchand, an educated and wealthy quadroon (one-quarter black) who has lived for many years in France, is suddenly declared the head of an old and powerful white family. This twist of fate presents him with a grave moral and personal dilemma: he can continue to live as a free man of color, or he can renounce everything that is familiar and dear to him and assume a new identity as a "respected" white man. Racism is the driving force of this tale?all are motivated by it, all react to it, and few challenge it. Ultimately, nothing changes. A brief, thought-provoking novel.?Janis Williams, Shaker Heights P.L., OHCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Arnold Rampersad
...behind the tired literary devices are a vibrant intelligence and an astute cultural sense on which we can draw as we continue our own wrestling in the brier patch of race.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Paul Marchand, who lives in the multinational society of New Orleans in the 1820s, is despised by white society for being a quadroon, yet he is a proud, wealthy, and well-educated man. In this city where great wealth and great poverty exist side by side, the richest Creole in town is dying. Pierre Beaurepas's family eagerly and greedily awaits disposition of his wealth. As the bombshell of the old man's will explodes, Marchand is drawn inexorably into contact with Beaurepas's racist family. Bringing to life the entwined racial cultures of New Orleans society, Chesnutt not only writes an exciting tale of adventure and mystery but also makes a provocative comment on the nature of racial identity, self-worth, and family loyalty.

FROM THE CRITICS

Arnold Rampersad

[V]ibrant intelligence.The New York Times Book Review

Arnold Rampersad - New York Times Book Review

. . .[B]ehind the tired literary devices are a vibrant intelligence and an astute cultural sense on which we can draw as we continue our own wrestling in the brier patch of race.

Library Journal

Reminiscent of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson, this tale of morality and choices was written in 1921 by respected black author Chesnutt but never published. It takes place in New Orleans in 1821, at a time when the antebellum South is in its full glory, complete with all of its charms and evils. Slavery is the backbone of its prosperity, and its inhabitants, both white and colored (e.g., those of mixed race, whose status was determined according to bloodline) enjoy freedom and great luxury. Paul Marchand, an educated and wealthy quadroon (one-quarter black) who has lived for many years in France, is suddenly declared the head of an old and powerful white family. This twist of fate presents him with a grave moral and personal dilemma: he can continue to live as a free man of color, or he can renounce everything that is familiar and dear to him and assume a new identity as a "respected" white man. Racism is the driving force of this tale--all are motivated by it, all react to it, and few challenge it. Ultimately, nothing changes. A brief, thought-provoking novel.--Janis Williams, Shaker Heights P.L., OH

Arnold Rampersad