The Blacker the Berry
by Wallace Thurman
A dark-skinned young woman moves to Harlem and becomes frustrated by colorism in the African-American community.
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About This Book
The Blacker the Berry, Wallace Thurman’s debut novel, follows the life of Emma Lou, a dark-skinned young woman from Boise, as she graduates high school and enters adult life as a college student. After being the target of colorist prejudice from her fellow African-American students at the University of Southern California, Emma Lou decides to drop out and move to Harlem—where she’s swept into a torrid love affair that only deepens her sense of color-consciousness.
Written and set during the height of the Harlem Renaissance, The Blacker the Berry was one of the first African-American novels to address the themes of colorism and homosexuality. It remains one of the canonical novels of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Public domain in the United States. Users located outside of the United States must check their local laws before using this ebook. Original content released to the public domain via the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.