Too long unavailable, this luminous classic of small-town life in the
segregated 1950s has "magic dust sprinkled over each and every page"
(Veronica Chambers, New York Times Book Review).
Irene Wilson knows that a "no-name invisible something" has settled over
her parents' marriage and suspects her glamorous new teacher is to
blame. Irene is not alone in her suspicions. In the town of Rattlebone,
a small Black neighborhood of Kansas City, secrets are hard to keep and
growing up is a community affair.
As Irene is initiated into adult passion and loss, her family story
takes its place in a tightly woven tapestry of neighbors whose griefs
and joys are as vivid as her own. Capturing an entire world through the
eyes of its unforgettable heroine, Rattlebone is a one-of-a-kind
triumph of American fiction.