Paul Marchand, F. M. C. - Paperback

by Charles W. Chesnutt (Author), Matthew Wilson (Introduction by)

Chesnutt wrote this novel at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance, but set it in a time and place favored by George Washington Cable. Published now for the first time, Paul Marchand, F. M. C. examines the system of race and caste in nineteenth-century New Orleans. Chesnutt reacts, as well, against the traditional stance that fiction by leading American writers of the previous generation had taken on the issue of miscegenation. After living for many years in France, the wealthy and sophisticated Paul Marchand returns to his home in New Orleans and discovers through a will that he is white and is now head of a prosperous and influential family. Since mixed-race marriages are illegal, he must renounce his mulatto wife and bastardize his children.

Front Jacket

Never before published, a 1920s novel that disputes prevailing attitudes on racial character and identity

Author Biography

Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was an innovative and influential African American writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His novels published during his lifetime include The House Behind the Cedars, The Marrow of Tradition, and The Colonel's Dream. His work also includes the posthumously published novels A Business Career and Evelyn's Husband, both published by University Press of Mississippi