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A review by arisbookcorner
Plum Bun: A Novel without a Moral by Jessie Redmon Fauset
4.0
IQ "I don't mind a man's not marrying me; but I can't forgive him if he thinks I'm not good enough to marry him. [...]It's wrong for men to have both money and power; they're bound to make some woman suffer" Paulette, 128
Obviously this novel was going to discuss race and the emotional as well logistical complexities of a Black person passing for white but I was also pleased that it touched on male privilege and sexism. It also has very independent female characters who have *gasp* casual sex and a few nods at homosexuality which was not something I expected for a novel written in 1929. I love how fearless this novel was for its time. There is outright disapproval of Angela passing but her sister Jinny tries to look at it from both sides which keeps the novel from sounding like it's trying to impart a lesson; "And each of us will have go her chosen way. After all each of us is seeking to get all she can out of life! and if you can get more out of it by being white, as you undoubtedly can, why, why shouldn't you? Only it seems to me there are certain things in living that are more fundamental even than color,-but I don't know. I'm all mixed up", she continues "After all in a negative way, merely by saying nothing, you're a disclaiming your black blood in a country where it is an inconvenience,-oh! there's not a doubt about that. You may be proud of it, you may be perfectly satisfied with it-I am-but it certainly can shut you out of things. So why shouldn't you disclaim a living manifestation of that blood?" (171). The perfect mixture of disapproval with sisterly love and attempt at understanding.
The novel also manages to get across its social causes in a subtle manner, for example, presenting a look at the Black middle class which was still extremely rare. Furthermore the author has clearly thought out every aspect of the novel. It is divided into five sections, each starting with a line from the poem that the title derives from. A bildungsroman that deftly employs the marriage plot and also uses passing to discuss power dynamics. I quite enjoyed watching Angela flounder around a bit and eventually grow. I wish schools would require this be read side-by-side with Passing, these two novels are far too often over looked and I think they give a great glimpse into Black lives in the early 20th century/the writers of the Harlem Renaissance.
Obviously this novel was going to discuss race and the emotional as well logistical complexities of a Black person passing for white but I was also pleased that it touched on male privilege and sexism. It also has very independent female characters who have *gasp* casual sex and a few nods at homosexuality which was not something I expected for a novel written in 1929. I love how fearless this novel was for its time. There is outright disapproval of Angela passing but her sister Jinny tries to look at it from both sides which keeps the novel from sounding like it's trying to impart a lesson; "And each of us will have go her chosen way. After all each of us is seeking to get all she can out of life! and if you can get more out of it by being white, as you undoubtedly can, why, why shouldn't you? Only it seems to me there are certain things in living that are more fundamental even than color,-but I don't know. I'm all mixed up", she continues "After all in a negative way, merely by saying nothing, you're a disclaiming your black blood in a country where it is an inconvenience,-oh! there's not a doubt about that. You may be proud of it, you may be perfectly satisfied with it-I am-but it certainly can shut you out of things. So why shouldn't you disclaim a living manifestation of that blood?" (171). The perfect mixture of disapproval with sisterly love and attempt at understanding.
The novel also manages to get across its social causes in a subtle manner, for example, presenting a look at the Black middle class which was still extremely rare. Furthermore the author has clearly thought out every aspect of the novel. It is divided into five sections, each starting with a line from the poem that the title derives from. A bildungsroman that deftly employs the marriage plot and also uses passing to discuss power dynamics. I quite enjoyed watching Angela flounder around a bit and eventually grow. I wish schools would require this be read side-by-side with Passing, these two novels are far too often over looked and I think they give a great glimpse into Black lives in the early 20th century/the writers of the Harlem Renaissance.