In 1893, mysterious Bostonian Anita Florence Hemmings quietly applied to prestigious Vassar College. Over the next four years, the olive complexioned beauty soared at the then all-women’s school, mastering Latin, Greek, French, and the school’s choral society.
Shortly before graduation her increasingly suspicious roommate would rock the campus by accusing Anita of being a Black woman pretending to be White. It’s a pearl clutcher that writer Karin Tanabe re-tells in the elegant and whip-smart story 'The Gilded Years'.
In her third novel, Tanabe sharpens her research and detective skills to uncover the social, cultural, and psychological implications of Anita, and her parent’s choice, to deny her heritage to gain greater access to opportunity.
Tanabe wisely hones in on the complex relationship between Anita and her roommate. In real life it was the roommate’s father who hired a private investigator to uncloak Anita as a Black woman.
In The Gilded Years, that roommate arrives in the guise of Lottie Taylor, a charismatic Manhattan heiress. Taking a page from Edith Wharton and Henry James, Tanabe ushers Lottie and Anita into New York City’s cushiest drawing rooms.
However, once Lottie falls for Frederick, Anita’s brother, all heck is about to break loose. And we know what happens to a woman scorned. Tanabe’s irresistible narrative is a brilliant tale between two worlds, which Anita straddles well. For a while.
Like the actual unveiling of Anita Hemmings’ well-kept secret, her fictitious Doppelgänger’s crash is perplexing and painful. And in The Gilded Years it’s also one of the most effective stories you’ll read this summer.