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    The Gilded Years: A Novel
    The Gilded Years: A Novel
    The Gilded Years: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Gilded Years: A Novel

    Written by Karin Tanabe

    Narrated by Janina Edwards

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Passing meets The House of Mirth in this “utterly captivating” (Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House) historical novel based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, the first black student to attend Vassar, who successfully passed as white—until she let herself grow too attached to the wrong person.

    Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the country’s most exclusive school for women, Vassar College. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret that would have banned her from admission: Anita is the only African-American student ever to attend Vassar. With her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white, but now finds herself rooming with Louise “Lottie” Taylor, the scion of one of New York’s most prominent families.

    Though Anita has kept herself at a distance from her classmates, Lottie’s sphere of influence is inescapable, her energy irresistible, and the two become fast friends. Pulled into her elite world, Anita learns what it’s like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white woman—the person everyone believes her to be—and even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. It’s only when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anita’s brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sister’s, that the situation becomes particularly perilous. And as Anita’s college graduation looms, those closest to her will be the ones to dangerously threaten her secret.

    Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Gilded Age, an era when old money traditions collided with modern ideas, Tanabe has written an unputdownable and emotionally compelling story of hope, sacrifice, and betrayal—and a gripping account of how one woman dared to risk everything for the chance at a better life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJun 7, 2016
    ISBN9781508216759
    Author

    Karin Tanabe

    Karin Tanabe is the author of over half a dozen novels, including A Woman of Intelligence and The Gilded Years. A former Politico reporter, her writing has also appeared in The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and Newsday. She has appeared as a celebrity and politics expert on Entertainment Tonight, CNN, and CBS Early Show. Karin is a graduate of Vassar College and lives in Washington, D.C.

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    Reviews for The Gilded Years

    4/5

    102 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Good book all the way through... ending notes even better.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This book about Anita was captivating! I found myself both cheering and tearing up at different parts of the story. The level of research and writing skills displayed in this book was impressive. The only small critique I have is that the narrator sounded a bit stiff at times, but I understand that she was likely focused on enunciating her words clearly and accurately.
    • 4/5
      Although there isn't a great deal of intrigue, The Gilded Years is still an interesting period piece. The key focus is on Anita Hemmings, hidden in plain sight, who became the first biracial graduate of Vassar Collage. What held my attention, however, is the detailed peeks into "sophisticated" college life circa 1897. A good and gentle read.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of Anita Hemmings, who dreamed of attending Vassar since she was a young girl. She was a member of the class of 1897. This novel is a fictionalized account of a true story of the first African American woman to attend Vassar.
    • 4/5
      This book is about the first African-American woman, Anita Hemmings (maybe related to Sally, but it can't be proven), at Vassar. All she had to do besides being an excellent scholar and exemplary student was to pass as white, while her brother was able to be himself at MIT. The writing is pretty simplistic, but the history is so good I had to give it 4 stars. Vassar was a wonderful place instilling in the women, mostly society elites, superb education in the classics, languages, math, science and sports. Then these intelligent, independent women graduates were expected to serve theircommunities by becoming wives and mothers. The ending of the book is so far fetched that I would have discounted it, if it hadn't been true.
    • 5/5
      Vassar College did not admit black women until the 1940's. However, two women - Anita Hemmings and her daughter Ellen Love - passed as white and graduated. This is a fantastic historical fiction of Anita's story, her family, and the wealthy roommate who hired a detective to trace Anita's family and reveal her secret. It's tantamount to a mystery - when and how will Anita be found out? Much of this story is fact based, although many characters, situations, and dialogue are invented. The writing suits the timeframe - the late 1890's - and, with rare exceptions, Northern attitudes turn out to be just as racist as that of any Southerner. The mothers of the Vassar students are suffragettes, but would be horrified to find out that their precious girls slept in the same room as "a Negress". More actual historical facts would have improved the afterword, but Anita's point of view is rendered most respectfully and sympathetically.