The Wedding A Novel
The Wedding A Novel by Dorothy West, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in January 1996, is a reprint edition comprising 256 pages. This novel offers an intimate glimpse into the Oval, a proud community of the East Coast’s Black bourgeoisie on Martha’s Vineyard during the 1950s. The story centers on the prominent Coles family as they gather for the wedding of their daughter, Shelby, who chooses to marry Meade Wyler, a white jazz musician, challenging the norms of their insular society.
Readers will find a detailed exploration of family dynamics, societal expectations, and the complexities of race within this historical context. The narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a changing community, as the members of the Oval confront the implications of Shelby’s choice. With its focus on themes of race and class, this work illustrates the struggles faced by individuals in a tightly-knit society, showcasing West’s elegant prose and her ability to capture the nuances of human relationships.
Official synopsis Publisher
In her final novel, “a beautiful and devastating examination of family, society and race” (The New York Times), Dorothy West offers an intimate glimpse into the Oval, a proud, insular community made up of the best and brightest of the East Coast’s Black bourgeoisie on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1950s.
Within this inner circle of “blue-vein society,” we witness the prominent Coles family gather for the wedding of the loveliest daughter, Shelby, who could have chosen from “a whole area of eligible men of the right colors and the right professions.” Instead, she has fallen in love with and is about to be married to Meade Wyler, a white jazz musician from New York. A shock wave breaks over the Oval as its longtime members grapple with the changing face of its community.
With elegant, luminous prose, Dorothy West crowns her literary career by illustrating one family’s struggle to break the shackles of race and class.
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