A review by sabregirl
Contending Forces: A Romance Illustrative of Negro Life North and South by Pauline E. Hopkins

2.0

This book was completely predictable. From the moment that you learned the Smiths were decendents of that tragic family of the Monfronts you basically knew what was going to happen in the novel. And there was just a lot of fluff added inbetween to make things more complicated and a bit more confusing. When that man from the South came to the discussion about the lynching and the reaction from Sappho I could just guess she was that person. I think it was the predictablity that made this book fairly boring. While it did show the struggles that people would go through if their name was tarnished with the possiblity of them being just a fraction of black, and how the past follows you. The ending was justifiable and some what fulfilling.