New England White

by Stephen L. Carter

book data

804 ratings, 3.46 average rating, 225 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		12%
4		37%
3		36%
2		12%
1		1%

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published

July 5th 2007 by Jonathan Cape Ltd (first published June 26th 2007)

details

Hardcover, 576 pages

isbn

0224062891 (isbn13: 9780224062893)

description

Lemaster Carlyle, the president of the country's most prestigious university, and his wife, Julie, the divinity school's deputy dean, are America's mo…more

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Oct 26, 2007

Jia rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

New England White is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. After I took a wrong turn toward the African-American section and misguidedly thumbed through the ABC’s of Borders’ fiction stacks, I finally made the connection that the newest novel from the widely hailed author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and Yale law scholar, Stephen L. Carter, was located in the Mystery/Thriller section. I could heed my embarrassment in not recognizing the accomplishments of my own fellow member of the “darker nation...more New England White is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. After I took a wrong turn toward the African-American section and misguidedly thumbed through the ABC’s of Borders’ fiction stacks, I finally made the connection that the newest novel from the widely hailed author of The Emperor of Ocean Park and Yale law scholar, Stephen L. Carter, was located in the Mystery/Thriller section. I could heed my embarrassment in not recognizing the accomplishments of my own fellow member of the “darker nation” (a term frequently used by Carter to delineate African-Americans), and blame it on the fact I was worn-out from a long day at the office. But perhaps it was my own narrow-minded subconscious, blocking the possibility that a successful Black author would be occupying expensive, forward-facing real estate in the curious suspense category. Whatever the case, the 550+ pages to me weighed heavy as a brick in my less-than-muscular arms; but I took up the challenge and settled in for a surprisingly piercing examination of the intersections of race and class in modern America.

In New England White, Carter breathes life into previously minor characters, Lemaster and Julia Carlyle, who appeared in his first novel The Emperor of Ocean Park. This upwardly mobile couple is the realization of W.E.B. Dubois’ Talented Tenth concept; both firmly ensconced in the edified black bourgeoisie by virtue of Lemaster’s uncompromising ambition and Julia’s historical familial ties, seemingly without the aid of Carter’s termed “paler nation.” Ironically, however, we learn in the end it is because of an unspeakable confidence with Lemaster’s three White college roommates, two of which have gone on to the Senate and White House; which propels the Carlyle family and the mysterious Emperyals organization to the oft unexplored nether regions of unchecked power. But I am getting ahead of myself…

Barbadian-born, Lemaster, is the president of fictional Kepler University. His family resides in the lily-white community of Tyler’s Landing, whose residents keep a close eye on the rising number of “colored families” (five in a town of 3,000) amongst their ranks. A sharp intellect that is maddeningly insane in his focus on honor and single-minded in his devotion to strict Anglican tradition, Lemaster is a formidable opponent for his time-weathered wife. Julia feels caged by the perfect illusion of family life that she has helped design; it is Julia who takes on the challenge of pursuing the truth, no matter how unsettling to her family, when the Carlyle’s Cadillac Escalade veers off an icy country road, leading to the grim discovery of Kellen Zant’s body in a nearby ditch.

Zant was a brilliant economics professor who co-authored a famous economic theorem; but more interestingly, he was Julia’s slick, heart-breaker of an ex-lover from more than two-decades before who unfailingly, if not admirably, professed his love throughout the years. The mystery of Zant’s murder grows stranger still when it is reveled that he left clues for Julia’s eyes only. Though she is an unwitting sleuth, Julia finds herself unable to stop searching for answers because some of her ex-lover’s clues lead back to own brilliant, yet frighteningly disturbed teenage daughter Vanessa.

The beauty of this mystery was its ability to achieve a major publishing coup with characters from Carter’s beloved, “the darker nation,” at the helm of a bestseller. Though, at times, his prose lies heavy and cloying at the far reaches of your vocabulary (I will admit it – I pulled out my dictionary three times) and there is also the daunting task of dissecting economic theorems; the subject-matter is worthy of the journey. Stephen Carter’s success sheds a blazing white light on this often overlooked and underappreciated part of American society.

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Dec 26, 2007

Kecia rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: fiction

Read in January, 2008

DISCLAIMER: If this is to be classified as a thriller, mystery, or something similar, then take this review with a grain of salt, since I don't normally read books in this genre.

If I weren't reading this for a book group discussion, I would have done the same thing I ended up doing with The Emperor of Ocean Park: put it down about a third of the way through out of fatigue. God bless you for your efforts, Professor Carter, but your editor needs to actually EDIT. There is such a thing ...more

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Mar 20, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in March, 2008

I was curious about this book, because his first novel (The Emperor of Ocean Park) was read and discussed by the mini-book-club (comprised of my husband, our friends Bert & Carolyn, and me) and we found much to think about. Once again, SLC follows characters whose background is the upper-middle-class African-American culture about which we collectively seemed to know NOTHING. The use of the phrase "the paler nation" really got our attention, and reminded us that for people of color, EV...more

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Aug 21, 2007

Izetta Autumn rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: 2020-tome, african-american, mystery-thriller, washingtonpostbookworld

Read in December, 2007

I sincerely enjoyed Carter's first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, and thus had high hopes for this, his second book. I was hoping and had imagined a modern day Dumas - a thrilling novel, with lots of sophisticated clues, and a twist of highlighting the black elite/intelligentsia.

Unlike Carter's first book, New England White, has a far less believable plot - even for this genre of being asked to believe the inconsistent or unbelievable. Carter doesn't give enough realistic signifi...more I sincerely enjoyed Carter's first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, and thus had high hopes for this, his second book. I was hoping and had imagined a modern day Dumas - a thrilling novel, with lots of sophisticated clues, and a twist of highlighting the black elite/intelligentsia.

Unlike Carter's first book, New England White, has a far less believable plot - even for this genre of being asked to believe the inconsistent or unbelievable. Carter doesn't give enough realistic signifiers for his characters to truly connect - though his description of Lemaster Carlyle is so clear that one wonders if it's a character sketch based on a living person. Julia Carlyle, Lemaster's wife, on whom the book ultimately revolves is a confusing, and at times infuriating woman, and her daughter is even more troublesome - particularly with the assumed youthful language Carter gives Vanessa Carlyle for dialogue.

The gist of the plot is this: elite Black family living in a New England college town become involved in an elite Black ecomonomist's plot to reveal the deeds of two powerful white men. The economist, Kellen Zant, never stopped loving his former flame, none other than Julia Carlyle to whom he leaves all the clues to his discoveries after he's murdered.

New England White grabbed me because of its willingness to investigate and even interrogate the Black elite. In fact, some character sketches ran true, but Carter overestimates how much his readers will understand and opts to tell as opposed to show the way that privilege, access, and elitism operate in the high echelons of the Black community.

Were the book 200 pages shorter, I could forgive the shortcomings and enjoy it as a frolicking mystery. Carter needed to exorcise his use of the key phrases, such as: the darker nation, the paler nation, the Clan, and the word nibbled. He also needed a ferocious editor, who would suggest that he keep the book to no more than 350 pages - following the model established by mystery afficionado James Patterson, who so elegantly brings to life his Black characters. Instead, the book is modeled like a Dumas mystery, which means at times too involved and too long. The last 50 pages or so, in varying intensity, show Carter's real talent for suspence and writing action scenes. Alas, it's not enough to save the book for me.(less)

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Dec 29, 2008

Molly rated it:

(review of isbn 0375712917)

Read in May, 2008

Started out as a really fun commercial literary mystery with a different perspective on life. Moved along nicely through about page 350. But long after I was done with it, the author was still traipsing along, tying up loose ends I'd forgotten existed because I didn't care anymore. I hope Stephen L. Carter isn't one of those authors who doesn't get edited anymore because he's successful, because a version of this book that was 20% shorter would have been fantastic.

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Nov 02, 2007

Tasha rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: 2008, african-american, mystery

Read in March, 2008

First off, this is a very large book. I wasn't sure I'll be able to get through it but I did. This book is a murder mystery surrounding an African-American president of a university, his wife, her dead ex-lover and a crime that happened over 30 years ago and how they are connected to it. It was a difficult read at first. Many characters and situations to remember but once I understood what was going on within the story, I swept through it. I wanted to know how it was going to end. The ending was...more

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Aug 21, 2007

K.C. rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: reading-list-2008

Read in March, 2008

I've never gravitated towards mystery/suspense but ever since I read several of my collegues books from the Harlem Writers Guild I've been hooked. So I read Carter's second book with eagerness. It started off strong and I marvelled at how he could keep a mystery going for 550 pages but he did it. And he did it well. New England White is compelling, smart, and good. It can be a little repetitive but given the subject matter---the murder of a genius, controversial black econ professor at a liberal...more

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Jul 08, 2007

Kirby rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in July, 2007

550+ page book, but reads pretty quickly. Didn't think it worked that well as a small town murder/mystery, even with the rich detail. But it did provoke larger questions about how Black elites might use whatever power and leverage they can obtain within the paler nation in service of the darker nation (Carter's terminology) and thoughtfully explores what the consequences of such choices might be -- on individuals, on the exclusive clubs/organizations/associations allegedly dedicated to such wo...more

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6 comments

Jul 31, 2009

Elizabeth K. rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: 2008-new-reads

Read in July, 2008

I enjoyed reading this very much, although it had some of the same problems that his first novel, Emperor of Ocean Park did. The wife of an Ivy League college president gets caught up with investigating the murder of a faculty member (who also happens to be her former boyfriend) after realizing that her daughter is somehow indirectly involved. I liked the college setting, and as always I remain fascinated by the historically upperclass African American community (which overlaps a tiny bit with t...more I enjoyed reading this very much, although it had some of the same problems that his first novel, Emperor of Ocean Park did. The wife of an Ivy League college president gets caught up with investigating the murder of a faculty member (who also happens to be her former boyfriend) after realizing that her daughter is somehow indirectly involved. I liked the college setting, and as always I remain fascinated by the historically upperclass African American community (which overlaps a tiny bit with the characters from the first novel). The mystery itself is difficult to follow, I have a very hard time believing anyone would be able to either create or solve such a convoluted set of clues. It seems to rely an awful lot on a very vaguely worded hint that causes another character to have a Eureka! moment in which she realizes the true intended meaning with absolute clarity. In our house, we can't say "tuna" without the cat going bonkers, so I will sometimes ask James to pick up some "fish in a can" at the store, and he says "what are you talking about?" and I say "you know, the FISH that comes in a CAN" while holding up my hands to make the international sign for can opener, and then I try spelling it, "T-U-N-A" and James says "oh, you mean tuna" and the cat promptly begins howling as if we were starving him. So with any luck, James and the cat and I will never be involved in any sort of government conspiracy because we would be complete non-starters in the clue-solving department. There's even one clue in the book that the main character gets wrong at first, and then corrects later on, and that seems worse, in a way, as if brilliant Mr. Carter suspected some of his readers might start feeling inadequate so he wanted to throw us a bone.

Grade: B+
Recommended: It's a good read if you are willing to let go of any realistic notions about crime solving. The action is good, the pace is swift, and the characters are deeply interesting. I've personally decided to treat the conspiracy itself like an medieval allegorical poem -- something that isn't supposed to make that much sense in the real world, but you just need to roll with it to get to the ideas behind it.
2008/27(less)

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Mar 12, 2009

Anna rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in March, 2009

I agree with others who've said the book raises some very interesting ideas, but the length and detail really got in the way at times. From about the halfway point onward, I could never remember how Tony Tice got introduced, except that he was now obviously a more significant character. While the story did get a bit more suspenseful around the latter third or so, I found the depth and complexity of the clues a bit improbable. And somehow the chapters after the initial denouement were kind of a l...more

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Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it (review of isbn 0375413626)

Featuring the setting and two minor characters from his best-selling debut novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park, Stephen L. Carter has crafted a literary thriller peppered with shrewd observations about wealth, power, race, culture, and politics. Several critics were disappointed with the murder mystery, citing a melodramatic plot with too many characters. However, the Washington Post declared, "Let's be honest: No one should read a Carter novel for the mystery." Indeed, Carter's astute di

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Jul 13, 2008

Celia rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: had-to-stop

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Celia by: a neighbor
recommends it for: anyone who reads more and faster

The beginning of this book was compelling. It got less so, but I was enjoying it. The humor of the academic setting was familiar for this author, I could tell. He enjoyed replacing white Ivy League characters with black counterparts.

Unfortunately, the lightweight-ness of the mystery, even with some good racial lessons, didn't warrant my slow plowing through 600-plus pages.

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Jan 17, 2010

Jack rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in January, 2010

Carter's murder / thriller is decently plotted and engaging, with an attractive, intelligent heroine and her remarkable family. But its greatest strength may be in its tremendously astute portrait of America's black elite, with their own clubs, societies, even their own social mores. These norms both reflect and differ those of their educated, affluent white counterparts. Like Southern Jews, upper-class African Americans evolved a separate social network, which once existed largely to insu...more

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Apr 06, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in April, 2009

It's really not fair that I have to leave my book-reading to do things like work, eat, or whathaveyou. This book, like Emperor of Ocean Park, has such excellent pacing that you just don't want to put it down for any reason.

Having finally been released from this book's grip, I will say that I did prefer Carter's Emperor of Ocean Park--but I am very picky about my mysteries/thrillers and this one had a touch of gruesome I didn't enjoy and also, I found a few relationships toward the...more

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Oct 21, 2009

Diane rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

Read in November, 2009

This was Carter's 2nd novel and again I loved his skill with language. It's a murder mystery, like Emporer of Ocean Park, but it's more complicated. It's told from Julie's pov; she's the wife of Lemaster Carlyle who is president of a small, private New England college based on Carter's Yale. The only reason I didn't give this book the full 5 stars is that the actual mystery is very complicated, maybe more than it needs to be. But on the other side, and the other reason critics loved this boo...more

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Sep 16, 2007

Helen added it (review of isbn 0375413626)

I just finished this book this morning. It is a fascinating mystery and psychological study. Another great novel by Stephen L. Carter.

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Feb 27, 2009

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: family-issues, fiction, multicultural, murder-mystery

Read in February, 2009

What a FABULOUS read!I just listened to the story for the second time with my husband and the book just keeps getting better. It's written very well, and the author keeps the reader interested and invested in the long story for the duration. On the surface the story is a murder mystery, two actually, set in the present and the past, and it's fascinating to see how the two murders - 30 years apart intersect. But I think the author is really using the story to explore racial issues and the two nat...more

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Jun 24, 2009

Cherylann rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: book-club-choices

Read in July, 2009

While I wanted to like this book, I just didn't. I was never sure what Carter wanted to do writing this book. For what purpose? Did he want to entertain - well, it just wasn't that suspenseful. I had answers for what was happening and then had to wade through 500+ pages to figure it out. I was hoping for something suspenseful - nope. If it was commentary about class or white privilege, the plot got in the way. And to top it off, the protagonist was a female. Carter is not a male who can w...more

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Sep 02, 2009

Coral Rose rated it:

(review of isbn 0375413626)

bookshelves: 2009, 2010, own

Read in January, 2010

This is a mystery, and like his other books, is centered around the elite African Americans who are close to political power. I remember really enjoying Palace Council, but little quirks I overlooked in it were what drove me mad about this one. His pedantic vocabulary was irritating, and his constant overuse of "paler nation" and "darker nation" to delineate the races was just condescending. I think his characters are complex, even remarkable, with multiple motivations and se...more

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Jan 27, 2009

Drick rated it:

(review of isbn 9780375413)

bookshelves: fiction, race-ethnic-studies

Read in February, 2009

This was one of the best books I have read recently. It combines a great story (the attempt to uncover the cause behind the murder of economics professor Kellen Zandt, and the 30 year old murder of a 17 year old Gina Jule), and insightful commentary on Black-White relations in the United States. Like Carter's other book, Emperor of Ocean Park, this book gives white readers into the diversity and class consciousness within the "darker nation," as well as their common distrust of the "...more

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