Evoking the atmosphere of early-nineteenth-century New Orleans and the
deadly aftermath of the San Domingo slave revolution, this historical
novel begins as its protagonist puzzles over the seemingly prophetic
dream of an aged black praline seller in the famous Place d'Armes. Paul
Marchand, a free man of color living in New Orleans in the 1820s, is
despised by white society for being a quadroon, yet he is a proud,
wealthy, well-educated man. In this city where great wealth and great
poverty exist side by side, the richest Creole in town lies dying. The
family of the aged Pierre Beaurepas eagerly, indeed greedily, awaits
disposition of his wealth. As the bombshell of Beaurepas's will
explodes, an old woman's dream takes on new meaning, and Marchand is
drawn ever more closely into contact with a violently racist family.
Bringing to life the entwined racial cultures of New Orleans society,
Charles Chesnutt not only writes an exciting tale of adventure and
mystery but also makes a provocative comment on the nature of racial
identity, self-worth, and family loyalty.
Although he was the first African-American writer of fiction to gain
acceptance by America's white literary establishment, Charles W.
Chesnutt (1858-1932) has been eclipsed in popularity by other writers
who later rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance. Recently,
this pathbreaking American writer has been receiving an increasing
amount of attention. Two of his novels, Paul Marchand, F.M.C.
(completed in 1921) and The Quarry (completed in 1928), were
considered too incendiary to be published during Chesnutt's lifetime.
Their publication now provides us not only the opportunity to read these
two books previously missing from Chesnutt's oeuvre but also the chance
to appreciate better the intellectual progress of this literary pioneer.
Chesnutt was the author of many other works, including The Conjure
Woman & Other Conjure Tales, The House Behind the Cedars, The Marrow
Tradition, and Mandy Oxendine. Princeton University Press recently
published To Be an Author: Letters of Charles W. Chesnutt, 1889-1905
(edited by Joseph R. McElrath, Jr., and Robert C. Leitz, III).
Originally published in 1999.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from
the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions
preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting
them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the
Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich
scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by
Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
