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The House Behind the Cedars

by Charles W. Chesnutt, Donald B. Gibson (Introduction)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 370 ratings · 37 reviews

Originally published in 1900, this groundbreaking novel by a distinguished African-American author explores the Southern obsession with race. The drama of a brother and sister who "pass for white" during the dangerous days of Reconstruction, it offers realistic, unsentimental perspectives on the role of race in 19th-century American life.

Paperback, 224 pages

Published April 1st 1993 by Penguin Classics (first published 1900)

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Feb 01, 2011 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: oh-mah-stars

"Time touches all things with destroying hand; and if he seem now and then to bestow the bloom of youth, the sap of spring, it is but a brief mockery, to be surely and swiftly followed by the wrinkles of old age, the dry leaves and bare branches of winter. And yet there are places where Time seems to linger lovingly long after youth has departed, and to which he seems loath to bring the evil day. Who has not known some even-tempered old man or woman who seemed to have drunk of the fountain of yo...more "Time touches all things with destroying hand; and if he seem now and then to bestow the bloom of youth, the sap of spring, it is but a brief mockery, to be surely and swiftly followed by the wrinkles of old age, the dry leaves and bare branches of winter. And yet there are places where Time seems to linger lovingly long after youth has departed, and to which he seems loath to bring the evil day. Who has not known some even-tempered old man or woman who seemed to have drunk of the fountain of youth? Who has not seen somewhere an old town that, having long since ceased to grow, yet held its own without perceptible decline?" (3)

Such an opening should suggest to anyone that this is a novel of often beautiful prose. The storyline, however, is one that was - racial factors aside - also a little too classic, maybe on purpose. A kind of girl meets boy with some Romeo and Juliet kinds of missed opportunities and coincidences along the way. The suspense that this brought to me was the typical kind I get from love stories where things don't go perfectly - you know the kind, where you have to wrench your eyes away, where you don't want to keep on reading because of a sense of foreboding and also a bit of frustration at the expectation of cliche, but also where you HAVE to keep on reading just to make yourself feel better...? Yeah, that. It felt weird, maybe even made me a little guilty, to have such inspired (uninspired) feelings from such an important novel on race relations. But part of this classical storyline, I feel, is deliberate. Chesnutt was a classically read author and his romantic notions in some ways (as seen, for example, in his multiple descriptions of the protagonist Rena as being like a Greek statuette) are evocative of this.

As far as the social issues presented in this novel, lots of interesting and in some cases unexpected insights are allowed to settle in the minds of these characters. As expected, the world Chesnutt evokes is far from uncomplicated, though there is a kind of blind dogged devotion presented in the characters of Blanche and Frank that smacks slightly of caricature. On the other end, there is John, whose dialogue seems at times a little too stiff and formal.

Still there is a lot to absorb in this book that make it worth the read. When I think about what makes some books 'classic' and others not, I wonder what would have happened if books written by non-white authors were ever made to 'pass' into the canon - this book, in style, content, and presentation, would have easily fit in among lots of the 19th century American authors that most readers would consider a part of that tradition and, in its eye-opening clarity and willingness to discuss difficult matters of race, would have in some cases surpassed it. (less)

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Dec 10, 2011 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those who love conflicting romances!

Recommended to Nicole by: American Literature of the 19th Century (Class)

Shelves: education

I must say, this book turned out to be quite more of an adventure than I expected it to be! It started out one way completely, and then before you knew it, our main character had completely dropped out of the picture while everything went on without him. It's a very intriguing book, and it's written well and flows so smoothly! You can read it like drinking in fresh air after being cooped up inside a stale house for days! It's enjoyable, it's pleasant, and it's a charm to read. In fact, I was mor...more I must say, this book turned out to be quite more of an adventure than I expected it to be! It started out one way completely, and then before you knew it, our main character had completely dropped out of the picture while everything went on without him. It's a very intriguing book, and it's written well and flows so smoothly! You can read it like drinking in fresh air after being cooped up inside a stale house for days! It's enjoyable, it's pleasant, and it's a charm to read. In fact, I was more than surprised by many of the events and concepts that this book played with. While I'm sure it's not an old idea that the intermingling of races--especially on a romantic front--can lead to problems, it's still interesting how they brought about much of the interplay here in this book.

In fact, the most shocking thing to me is that the book started out one way and changed at multiple times to be something completely different. It's not a linear read at all. It's got characters in it that are pure and single-minded, and others that are confused and wandering in circles. Everyone has either objectives to follow and meet, or has emotions tugging at their heartstrings so deftly that they cannot help but listen to them and fly madly into fits of logic! Logic! Not passion! How impressive and singularly strange this book was! For the first half of it we were following the story of John, who was our main character by all respects and standards, and his objective was pretty simple enough: "Come with me my beautiful sister! For I can make a better life for you than in our shoddy hometown!" And thus WHOOSH he speeds her away and she becomes a lady of respects and manners, beautiful and intelligent and desired by one man in particular. It becomes a case of courtship, and then it all BOOM. Grows complex! As romances do.

I know this is hardly an explanation, but let's just dabble into the second half, and the ODDEST shift of any book that I've EVER seen! Somewhere, somehow, our main character, John, just drops completely off the face of the earth for us halfway through the book. He's there, and then suddenly, we realize, "Heyyyy... we started off reading about John. But now we're constantly reading about his sister Rena." And mind you, I was NOT upset about this. I think that John came off as a narrow-minded character, with a singular view and purpose in his mind, and that he was acting along a path that followed only what he was attempting to achieve. Once that succeeded or failed, he didn't care beyond that. If it began to mess with his plans, he left it and moved on, which is essentially what he did throughout the entire book: with his mother, his sister, and anyone else he ever worked or interacted with. He's not a person who cares beyond the objective. He has a mind set on a goal, and that's the end-all and only source of concern in his life. *Shrugs* I don't quite hate him, but neither can I say that I exactly fully like him either. He doesn't do anything particularly EVIL in my opinion, even if he is something of an ass. But when he fades away towards the middle of the book, and we start following Rena's life and what she's going through, then I can't be bothered with John anymore.

Rena is a much more honest, emotive, and relateable character I feel. Her voice is strong throughout the book, and her feelings aren't some stupid whining patheticness like most girls today are written up with. She's not a shallow character. Not at all. She has so much depth that it makes the second half of the book almost a torment to read about at times! In a good way. When she's feeling agony and pain, then we do too. And when she's thrilled or annoyed, we feel it too. We right there empathizing with her all the way, and it's a lot of fun to do so! Even if it brings out a lot of emotional feelings in us. I mean, for a character as strong and beautiful in heart and soul as in her features, she's a woman that goes through so much that it's terrible. But that's what makes you love her all the more. Because she's tough enough to keep on trying and fighting in whatever way she knows how, so that she can keep on moving forward. And if she's not fighting, she's finding ways to outsmart others, and she's considering how others are acting and feeling. God she's such a wonderfully complex and thought-provoking woman!

And things are compounded by the two side characters that I love, love, love, love, LOVE! FRANK AND GEORGE. I love them both SO MUCH. George is the epitome of the olden knight figure, glorious and noble, brave and charming in every single way. The way that the speech even in the book changes when we're having the story narrated to us whenever it's following his part of the story, it's GORGEOUS. Words and phrases are used that would make ANY woman's heart SING! He's absolutely magnificent in heart. The only thing that makes me sad, is that it takes him a long time in order to realize the fullness of his own power. And it's a shame, because even though I love seeing how he grows in beauty and strength by doing exactly as he wants, no matter what others say and what the repercussions might be, it all comes a little too slowly and late. And that just causes so many problems in the book that it's not something I can really talk about. Yet even then, I admire the growth and potential for beauty that George has. And then there's Frank. And oh God, Frank. He... makes my heart throb and ache, and I can only say that I love him the more every single time that his name is mentioned, and with every additional thing that he does. He is... so selfless, devoted. He gives every last shred of his love--his pure and undying love--to Rena, and he doesn't ask for a thing in return. He loves her, and he doesn't ask for her to love him, doesn't ask for her to ever even consider loving him. He is merely glad to be friends with her, to hear her speak, to know that she is happy--and that she is with someone who deserves her and her beautiful heart, her intelligence and warmth. Frank is the ultimate selfless and magnificent character in this story just for his own ability to give up everything except for the supporting of the one that he loves more than anything, without ever wanting to incriminate her or ask from her the slightest thing besides her own happiness. How can you not love a character of this worth? Of this merit? He is the ultimate supporting character, epitomizing it in perfection. And that's why I love him so dearly.

Overall, this book was absolutely impressive in how readable and enjoyable I found it! I think it conveyed the thoughts of interracial relationships amazingly well, as well as having a relationship at its central focus that was actually enjoyable to read about, even at its worst moments. The weird thing is that it still doesn't read like a romance book when it starts out, and that's the shocking thing! Usually romances have dead give-aways that they're going to eventually become a romance, but this started off as something so completely different that when it eventually progressed into what could be called almost a full romance--and even then tentatively since there are so many other issues constantly going on--that it was enjoyable still! I was surprised by the progress of the story, but that was the good thing about! Being surprised was pleasant, and even though the ending left me with something of a terrible hole in my heart, I think that's what made this story so... beautiful and profound all at the same time.

Although I bought this book for a class, I love it. I can say it confidently and proudly: It was a GREAT book. And I'm HAPPY I have it in my collection, because it's going to be worth keeping, and has been worth more than every last cent I spent on it. I absolutely advise you pick up this story and read it. Because of the type of story it is, I think it's very susceptible to not being liked by others. But I feel it's a story that has so much else behind it and to it, that it's a beautiful and really thought-provoking read in itself. It's worth it, just for the experience. So if you're afraid you'll read it and end up hating it, then definitely don't go and attempt to buy it. Take it out of a library or find it second-hand first. But at the very least, I recommend it as one of those books you just have to give a shot. Who knows! You might find it more valuable than the sum of its parts, or maybe the end is what makes it for you. But definitely give it a try.(less)

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Mar 29, 2012 Mmars rated it 3 of 5 stars

Chestnutt's writing style is typical of well-educated or proper writers of his age. This is not to say it's bad or good, it just is what it is. Thought-provoking study of race and social complexity. Had not heard of the term "passing" before this book, but this book brings to mind scientific advances in genetic studies. I've seen several episodes of "Finding Your Roots" with Henry Louis Gates on PBS in which several famous people (Yo-Yo Ma, Louise Erdrich) allow Gates to research their ancestry....more

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Jul 16, 2009 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: littry-fiction, my-summer-of-classix

power through...
im not sure how i feel including this in my "summer of missed classics" jag, because of all of my goodreads.com friends, no one has read it. so its not really in the same league as pride and prejudice or notes from underground, where it was just me who had skipped 'em. but its still something ive always meant to read, but never got around to. that said - it should have been read by all of my goodreads.com friends, real or faking it. it is an amazing piece of writing that gives me...more

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Jun 20, 2012 Catherine Siemann rated it 4 of 5 stars

This one's well worth reading -- a turn-of-the-last century melodrama about racial passing, and a young, light-skinned African-American woman's limited choices in the post-Civil War South. Rena meets Tryon at a Walter-Scott inspired medieval tournament, and he offers to be her knight, but when the truth about her mixed-race background comes out, all the ideology of white supremacy that he's been raised with comes between them. There is much talk about skin color and much valorization of light sk...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Samantha Glasser rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, fiction

The House Behind the Cedars is the story of a brother and sister, John and Rena, who share the misfortune of being one-eighth African American. Their mother is a "quadroon" who was kept by a wealthy white man, but when he died, his will was flawed, so she and the children got no money.

John's white skin and thirst for knowledge led him to become a highly intelligent young man, and when he was old enough to leave, he set out to make a new life for himself as a lawyer. He acquired a white wife who...more

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Nov 23, 2011 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: african-american, classics, southern

Meh - so much to like, and of course, I am a great fan of Charles W. Chestnutt, and truly loved his bookThe Marrow of Tradition.

The book started out very strong, I was expecting somewhat similar to The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, but with a little more political charge. However, it turned into an ill-fated love story, at times predictable, at times infuriating, and at times just plain sad.

The imagery of the house behind the cedars was possibly one of the most beautiful parts of the story...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Yanira rated it 3 of 5 stars

Overall - I enjoyed reading this novel. However, I do not know if it has to do with the writing or my liking to reading books post-war. The book is not complicated at all to read. Yet, it seems like it takes forever to get to the surprising ending. I think the language is a little fluffy, and the narrator seems to know all these universal truths that sound more like philosphy than actual character-thinking. The book refers a lot to The Fate, and the impulse humans feel towards this Fate.

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May 13, 2011 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mostly theoretically interesting for its problematic project of black uplift through racial amalgamation. Should be read in conjunction with Chesnutt's periodical writing on the same subject. What is most interesting, to me, in this book is the manner in which the narrative celebrates the black mother as a site of (amalgamated) happy futurity at the same time as it also marks her as a site of necessary rejection and forgetting.

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Jun 20, 2009 Anna Parkinson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The whole idea of having to pretend to be someone you're not just to be given equal opportunity and a chance at the "American Dream" really struck a nerve with me, and although this is still indeed the case, it reminds me of how far we have come. This book addressed a really important issue, and althought it is fiction, it has much truth in it--even today. Sad reality but good read.

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Oct 27, 2010 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book that delves into the lives of a family that uses their fairer skin to "pass" in a society that is not at all embracing of blacks. It shows the compromise of self and values to to embraced in "normal" society.
Of course the ending can only lead to tragedy. Anytime you lose touch with self, this is the only inevitably road.

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Sep 17, 2011 Sherrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just happened to be helping my husband locate a book on an adjacent library shelf, picked it up, and loved every page. Took me awhile to finish as I'm what my husband labels a "multiple book reader" (usually 4 or more at a time).

However, I'm so glad I found this amazing piece of literature that has so long been hidden from view except as a classroom assignment. I consider it tragic that more people have not been exposed to the subject matter or to Chesnutt's writing style. Held it today after t...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Christopher Cook rated it 4 of 5 stars

I actually had to read this novel for my English 265 class, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Out of the three novels that I read for that class, this was, by far, my favorite. It's a rather quick and easy read and offers a lot of insight into eighteenth century life and how racism played a role, and it's very interesting to see how it was then in comparison to how it is now. The novel has very strong characters, such as John and Rena, that are either very easy to love or very easy to...more

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Nov 03, 2010 Jamie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

A real page-turner, but I found Chesnutt's handling of racial politics, particularly emblematized in the idea of 'passing,' to be profoundly disturbing. Falls pretty squarely in the "tragic mulatto" genre, and I found myself incredibly uncomfortable with what seemed to be Chesnutt's glamorization of aesthetic (if not 'essential') whiteness. The prose itself is pretty, if a bit too sentimental for my tastes, and as I said, the narrative is conventional and engaging (though I found the 'coincidenc...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Alyce Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this novel; it was very reminiscent of his Conjure Woman tales in the use of dialect amongst black characters. I enjoyed the theme of biraciality explored in this novel, and also appreciated how it dealt with gender roles, too.

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Mar 01, 2009 Ameena rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazingly touching and poignant. For anyone with diverse parentage, it will certainly touch you deeply. Just an immensely wonderful book!

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Mar 25, 2013 Zahara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't think enough people have read this book. I'm glad I found it in a bookstore that had a copy. Beautiful writing and descriptions.

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Jan 26, 2009 Stefanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had to read this one for a lit class and ended up really liking it. Another great work of historical fiction.

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May 10, 2010 Erika added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 01, 2012 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Published in 1900. Tale of identity, class, and race. Worth the read

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May 31, 2011 Rachael Mariboho rated it 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful and too often overlooked novel in American literature.

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Nov 03, 2012 Caroline Alicia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-american, human-rights, nov2012, race-relations, southern-lit, kindle

pretty damn sad. too late now Tryon.

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Jul 11, 2010 Frank rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel, whose origins as a short story are not fully ironed out, is nonetheless a sharp dramatization of the perils of passing and of life on the color line.

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May 11, 2013 Colin Geoffrey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Meow

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Mar 13, 2012 Jewell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Quite a compelling story that deals with an aspect of African American history that still has an impact today. Although at times I found the book to be somewhat melodramatic the story as a whole was quite a page turner. I found myself giving Rena kudos after reading her letter to Tyron requesting that he leave her be. I Really enjoyed this read. Plan to read more works by this author.

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Nov 03, 2012 Josefine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, university, owned

The plot is super constructed at times, doubly so because the narrator is omniscient and gives hints to the future, but it was still a nice read and I suppose it's rather astonishing for a story like that to make its way into the world of literature around the turn of the century. It will be interesting to discuss it in class.

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Mar 18, 2010 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

One of the first books by a Black author on "passing" where "Black" folks tried to pass as "White." A bit flowery writing for my taste, but it points out so well the way White folks all up in arms as mixed-race folks undid and confused the concept of race.

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Oct 22, 2008 Marta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: southern-fiction

I thought this book was really excellent, especially within the "Southern writers" context that I read it in, and because of the author's biography. Some of the plot devices are a bit contrived but Chesnutt has a lot to say about race, character, and relationships.

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Feb 04, 2012 Chantal rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this right after reading "The Help" I was not written as a period book as the Help is but written when it actually took place. It was interesting to compare the 2 books. I really enjoyed learning more about the civil rights and this book!

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Jun 04, 2008 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

This may be my all time favorite book. It had an unusual storyline, and did not end at all like I expected it to. If you want to be moved...pick this one up.

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