Overview
Telling the remarkable story of black Americans in the 20th century through the character of Ann Elizabeth Carter, this historical novel weaves real events throughout the tale of America making slow, steady, and still unfinished progress towards racial equality. Raised in the privileged and comfortable world of Atlanta’s black elite, Ann Elizabeth still endures the dangers and rank discrimination of the deep south. When she marries Tuskegee Airman Robert Metcalf during World War II, their world broadens to include war-torn Germany, postwar Los Angeles, school integration, marches and sit-ins of the civil rights era, Cold War Europe, and the black separatist movement of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Synopsis
African American Ann Elizabeth Carter grew up in Atlanta in the 1920s and 30s. She was brought up in a privileged household, seldom touched by the racism of the times. It was assumed she would eventually marry into the same lifestyle, so when she falls in love and marries Robert Metcalf, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, it shocks her parents.
When she moves with him to his world, the shock is Ann Elizabeth s. They face a myriad of challenges over the years, from German concentration camps to Rob s inability to find a job, to helping integrate an all-white elementary school in Virginia. Then they must watch as their children face the civil rights battles of the 60s and 70s. Through it all, this strong family never forgets it roots and manages to grow together, using the wisdom of generations.
Book Magazine
The novel is a frank assessment of the impact of class, color, race and gender . . .
Editorials
Book Magazine
The novel is a frank assessment of the impact of class, color, race and gender . . .From The Critics
Rutland's semi-autobiograpical novel skillfully weaves together sixty years in the lives of a middle-class black family living during the latter half of the twentieth century. The book, which takes its title from a stanza in a Langston Hughes poem, begins in Atlanta at the onset of World War II. Ann Elizabeth Carter is the socially sheltered daughter of a prominent African-American physician, who, after graduating from Spelman College, is expected to follow in her mother's footsteps—marry a doctor and take her place among Atlanta's black social elite. But all that changes when she meets and marries Tuskegee Airman Robert Metcalf. The young couple soon lose their social innocence as they come face to face with racism in America. The novel is a frank assessment of the impact of class, color, race and gender, as well as a story of hope and perseverance in the face of adversity. The Metcalfs represent all those who participated in marches, protests and sit-ins; who integrated neighborhoods, workplaces and schools; and who provided physical and financial support for civil rights organizations.—Gwendolyn E. Osborne
Library Journal
A prolific author of series romances, Rutland sets her semiautobiographical story in the very segregated city of Atlanta in the years just prior to World War II. Ann Elizabeth Carter, a member of the black upper class, shocks her family when she chooses to marry Robert Metcalf, a Tuskegee airman, over one of her father's physician colleagues. Following Rob across the country, Ann Elizabeth encounters an America much different from the one she knew growing up in her genteel, sheltered household. Encountering racism in the armed forces, in the neighborhood, and in the schools, Rob and Ann Elizabeth struggle to provide a safe environment for their children, while at the same time challenging the racist status quo. Spanning much of the 20th century, Rutland's work was originally released as a 480-page mass market paperback. Abridged to a two-cassette audiobook, the tale becomes rather disjointed. Capably narrated by Donna Washington, this is suitable for romance collections.--Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., OH Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.Debbie Richardson
In a story that covers six decades, Ms. Rutland blesses readers with a look at a world that many have lived and many others can not even imagine. Her writing is so real that no heart can go unscathed or untouched by both extremes, the horror and the joy.— Romantic TImes