Love on Trial: An American Scandal in Black and White

by Earl Lewis and Heidi Ardizzone

Book Overview

A modern Cinderella must defend her fairy-tale marriage in a scandal that rocked jazz-age America. When Alice Jones, a former domestic, married Leonard Rhinelander in 1924, she became the first black woman to be listed in the Social Register as a member of one of New York's wealthiest families. Once news of the marriage became public, a scandal of race, class, and sex gripped the nation--and forced the couple into an annulment trial.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393323099
• ISBN13: 9780393323092
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Book!

This book is an excellent historical account of the Rhinelander case. I was not even aware of this case but this book brought it to life for me! It was an extremely interesting historical lesson. The authors' account of the trial was very well done.

Excellent and thought-provoking

Hmm, I don't know if everyone reads the book carefully, but very clearly, one of the main arguments of this book is how american culture tried to portray something ambiguous (race) as something precise and scientific, and was caught in its own lie.The book is human and interesting, but it lets that human interest come from the story. Many books of this nature are ruined by authors who want to make more of a novel, injecting dialogues and thoughts that the author has invented to flesh out the facts as they are known. We don't know exactly what the young couple were thinking or how their feelings might have changed over time, but the author doesn't pretend to know, either, and that makes the events more compelling and the book more truthful.I like this book because it has been written with a soft touch, presenting facts, and allowing them to make the story.We are not given a romantic, overdone cartoon of the case, but merely invited to see how absurd a love affair is when it is divorced from its personal nature, and how equally absurd the scientific classification of "race" is when it cannot even be measured with scientific precision.

The "O.J. Simpson" case of its time!

Alice Jones and Leonard Kip Rhinelander meet and fall in love. Alice comes from a modest family originally from England and Leonard comes from a wealthy New York family. After a quiet three-year courtship, Alice, age 23 and Leonard, age 22 finally marry. It looks like this youthful couple has a promising life together ahead of them. That should be the end of their seemingly innocent love story. The couple lives happily ever after. Right? Wrong.A few days after the wedding, it is discovered that Alice is from a mixed race background. Her mother is white and father of West Indian descent. Upon the revelation of this news, Leonard quickly files for an annulment. He claims that he was unaware of his wife's racial background (a daughter of a black man) and that she tricked him into marrying her. Conversely, Alice maintains that her husband knew everything about her and she did not defraud her.The year is 1924. What happens next is a fascinating and sensational trial. Known as the "Rhinelander case," it brings up several attention-grabbing issues that include how race is viewed in the U.S., especially at that time period - the 1920s. I would have liked to read a little more about the Alice and Leonard. However, I understand that the book is not a biography on the couple but instead focuses on the trial. In the authors' notes, the reader is told that the families did not grant interviews and expressed no interest in the book. I also found the numerous footnotes within the book a little distracting. It sometimes felt as if I was reading a dissertation instead of a book.Despite these minor complaints, the subject of "Love on Trial" is of interest. Authors, Lewis and Aridzzone have done an excellent job retracing the events of the case and reconstructing what occurred in the courtroom - this includes the interaction between the two strong-headed opposing lawyers, the examination of Leonard and a point where Alice has to partially disrobe for the jury. Photos are interspersed among the chapters, showing the litigants, crowded courtroom, judge and lawyers to envision the story better."Love on Trial" is well researched and detailed with the happenings in the case - from the trial, appellate and New York Supreme Court findings. It also includes the newspaper coverage and public reactions during and after the court case.If you enjoy reading about trials, watching T.V. programs on court cases or lawyers shows, this is the book for you.Fafa Demasio

Very detailed historical account without being bogged down

From the very start you want to know more about the lovers/litigants in this book. The authors unfold the story slowly and with great detail, as well as plenty of historical context, which only leaves you wanting more. Its a story that not all might be familiar with, but that everyone can understand. I highly recommend it to folks interested in real-life dramas!

Utterly compelling tale -- I couldn't put this book down.

The writing is so engaging, and the tale so compelling and well-told, I finished this book in just two days and I have not been able to stop pondering what happened and all the issues raised, about American views regarding the meaning of race, class, interracial and cross-class relations, sexual mores, manhood and womanhood. The authors present thoughtful analyses of the social and cultural context in which the courtship, marriage, and trial took place. One thinks, this was the 1920s, but is the United States today all that far removed from the types of thinking that made such a horrific, shaming trial possible? Maybe not. I highly recommend this book; it will astound, engage, and edify you. Time and money well-spent.