Blanche among the Talented Tenth

This second book in the Blanche White series sees Blanche heading to the small Maine resort community of Amber Cove. Traditionally a retreat for fair-skinned, wealthy African Americans, Blanche anticipates standing out as someone who is both working-class and dark-skinned. Mysterious deaths occur and Blanche gets to the bottom of it all, though honestly the crime-solving aspect of this novel is both secondary to the main action of the book and honestly a bit limp (like a second-rate Murder, She Wrote episode). The real interest to Blanche Among the Talented Tenth is Barbara Neely's exploration of classism and colorism among Black people, and how engaging and authentic Blanche's voice is. She's one of those point-of-view characters whom show more you can really hear speaking in your ear. show less

Having dealt with the retrograde condition of interracial relations in the debut novel of this series, author Barbara Neely turns her gimlet eye to the state of relations with the African-American community in Blanche and the Talented Tenth.

The title refers to W.E.B. Dubois’ prediction that one-tenth of the Negro race would rise, through education and good character, to be the leaders who would buoy up the rest of the race. The term became conflated with light-skinned blacks, those with straight hair and skin no darker than a paper bag, as if intelligence, industry, or leadership were something based on having traces of Caucasian blood!

At the heart of Blanche and the Talented Tenth are the light-skinned, well-bred, and well-connected show more African Americans who regularly summer at Amber Cove, Maine, a stand-in for wealthy African-American resort villages like Oak Bluff on Martha’s Vineyard or the Azurest section of Sag Harbor, N.Y. Doctors, lawyers, authors, well-known professors — the crème of the African-American crème — litter the landscape at Amber Cove in Maine. And when Blanche White — a maid who wants to appear more at ease with her dark skin, natural hair, and job position than perhaps she really feels — comes to Amber Cove, she finds the old prejudice of so-called “high yellow” blacks against their darker brothers and sisters alive and well, a prejudice as strong as that of any racist white.

Blanche will be spending a few days at Amber Cove with her sister’s children as the guest of two well-heeled African-American doctors, Drs. David and Christine Crowley. (Blanche’s niece and nephew, Taifa and Malik, attend school with the Crowley children.) Just before her arrival, a particularly unpleasant regular died under very suspicious circumstances. And Blanche intuitively realizes that lots of unsavory goings-on amongst the Talented Tenth of Amber Cove, despite their money, Ivy League educations, and privilege.

Neely weaves a most intriguing mystery. But what really made this book special was the penetrating look it took at the black ruling class and at the self-deceptions that help the privileged of any race able to keep looking at themselves in the mirror. show less

This is nominally a mystery, I guess, but is mostly a character study of the protagonist, Blanche White, who makes her living cleaning houses. The narrative really focuses on her thoughts and attitudes about race relations as she lives through a few days away from home in an unfamiliar environment. The entire story unfolds at a rather old exclusive resort with cottages originally created and now owned by upper-crust black families who've held them for a couple of generations or so. There are two deaths in the book, one more mysterious than the other, but rather than being center stage, they're almost a backdrop to a long, detailed, and nuanced rumination about racial attitudes. Black/white relations are involved, of course, but more show more particularly, the book is concerned with black as contrasted with what Blanche calls the "light bright" folks; and a whole range of nuanced attitudes and prejudices. Also of particular interest to me were Blanche's religious thoughts and attitudes, as well as her relationships with various women she meets, and her friend Ardell whom she talks with by phone a lot.

If I were setting out to teach a high school course in modern American literature, I think I might put this book on the curriculum. (Oh, wait, Blanche talks about packing her vibrator and sex-relations between unmarried folks, so I guess I wouldn't be teaching that course in Ruralopolis.) The writing is quite fine, very clear, and lucid. show less

I truly loved this! It's a really good look at the interplay in the Black Community USA between colorism and classism as well as the undeniable link between the two.
Black firsts are sometimes so light skinned I'm not entirely sure they're black. Wealth and status have been tied to skin color since the first 'Angolan' officially arrived in this country.

I'm trying to branch out and read more authors of color. This was delightful! Just up my street! A canny black woman detective. A good cozy mystery. And I learned something about a culture not my own. I look forward to reading more Blanche mysteries. I really appreciated being inside the head of this remarkable woman.

Once again I enjoyed reading about Blanche White. She is a great character and offers just the right amount of comic relief to some series subject matter. Neely does not shy away from social commentary in these mysteries. In this one there is a lot of discussion of colorism and the treatment of women in the black community. I enjoyed following Blanche on her journey to find the truth and liked getting to know all of the characters at the resort.

Blanche White, maid/cook extraordinaire, goes to Maine to spend some time with her kids at an elegant African-American resort owned and visited by old-money African-American families. A woman whom no one liked has recently died and her death puts a chain of events in motion that endangers Blanche. The mystery is secondary to the discussion about African-American attitudes about class and skin color. I like Blanche; she's warm, volatile and interesting.