Jessie Redmon Fauset - Novels

Novels

Between 1924 and 1933, Fauset produced four novels: There is Confusion (1924), Plum Bun (1928), The Chinaberry Tree (1931), and Comedy, American Style (1933). Inspired by T.S. Stribling’s novel Birthright, Fauset recognized a dearth of positive depictions of African American experience in contemporary literature, and thereby set out to portray African American life as realistically, and as positively, as possible.

• Fauset's first novel, There is Confusion, was praised widely upon release, especially within the pages of the Crisis. This novel traces the family histories of Joanna Mitchell and Peter Bye, who must each come to terms with the baggage of their racial histories.

• Published in 1923, her second novel Plum Bun has warranted the most critical attention. Plum Bun centers on the theme of "passing." The protagonist, Angela Murray, eventually reclaims her African American identity after spending much of the novel passing for white.

• Fauset's third novel, The Chinaberry Tree, has largely been ignored critically. Set in New Jersey, this novel explores the longing for "respectability" among the contemporary African American middle class. The protagonist Laurentine seeks to overcome her "bad blood" through marriage to a "decent" man. Ultimately, Laurentine must redefine "respectable" as she finds her own sense of identity.

• Her last novel Comedy, American Style, explores the destructive power of "color mania" The protagonist's mother Olivia ultimately brings about the downfall of the other characters due to her own internalized racism.