The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories

By Charles W. Chesnutt and Charles W Chestnutt

Book Overview

"The Wife of His Youth" is a short story by American author Charles W. Chesnutt, first published in July 1898. It later served as the title story of the collection The Wife of His Youth and Other... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472061348
• ISBN13: 9780472061341
• Release Date: January 1968
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Great book for fun or a course on Reconstruction

I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection, and shared them with my teenagers. They depict with wit, tenderness and irony identity crises of African Americans during and after Reconstruction, and the racism that persisted in both North and South. They read like a mixture of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe with a touch of Jane Austen.

A STORY OF LOVE, LOYALTY AND SURVIVAL

This story is beautifully written. Mr. Chestnutt carefully presents the two different worlds of light-skinned educated blacks and dark-skinned uneducated blacks. He shows how for both groups the Reconstruction era meant an unclear identity. He also shows how both groups are victims of circumstance, but that truth, love, and fidelity can over come those circumstances. I liked this book because as an African-American I know about the "color" problem among our people. I also liked it because it was a true love story and a tear jerker. I suggest you read it aloud to a literary group. It's a wonderful story.