The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories

by Charles W. Chesnutt

Chesnutt writes of the black search for identity in the period between the Civil War and the turn of the century

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, African American, Race, African American Literature, Historical Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1899

About the author

Charles Waddell Chesnutt was an author, essayist and political activist, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity.

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primarily stories set during the Antebellum & Reconstruction Eras.
This short story anthology primarily deals with colorism, passing and IR marriage.
Interesting and well written.
This is a really good snapshot of colorism and colorist views from this era.
A Matter of Principle should be VERY widely read, especially amongst folks denying the long arm and long history of colorism.
Shew!

[Barbara Krasnoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book by a fascinating author. Born in 1858, Charles Chesnutt was born to two "free persons of color," and apparently had at least one grandparent who was a white slave owner. He wrote about the lives of the African-Americans of his time, the newly free and the free born, struggling to find a place in the world.

The title story tells of a man who has established a place among the Blue Veins, a society whose purpose "was to establish and maintain correct social standards among a people whose social condition presented almost unlimited room for improvement. By accident, combined perhaps with some natural affinity, the society consisted of individuals who were, generally speaking, more white than black." The story is both a morality tale about loyalty, and a satire of the pretensions of middle-class African-American society. Something that Chesnutt knew much about; he was a lawyer, owned a prosperous stenography business, and spent his life as a writer, an essayist and a political activist.

The stories in this collection vary; some (like much of the literature of the time) are way too sentimental for our tastes, and some of the characters speak in a dialect that wouldn't be acceptable in today's literature. However, the book is definitely worth reading.

It ends forcefully, with the tale of a prosperous blacksmith who is accused, arrested, and wrongfully convicted of stealing a white man's whip; he is sent away for five year's hard labor, during which time his children are lost to the despair of poverty and his wife finds another man (the one whom, we are led to believe, actually stole the whip), and finally, ragged and bitter, sets out to kill the owner of the whip, whom he sees as the author of his ruined life.

A fascinating glimpse of a portion of American society that was seldom written about, from a man who lived it.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sub-title is "And Other Stories of the Color-Line" and that is his main focus, characters immediately post-Civil War, many of mixed race, and the back-and-forth of their positions, the choices they make or have thrust on them. Engagingly written so that the eye just bounds along as his wit slides in almost without notice.

[AGMaynard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The wife of his youth holds up loyalty and honor, as do one or two similar to it. Others are devastating, such as the Sheriff's Children. All concern themselves with the absurdity of the color line and unrelenting presence of white supremacy in various degrees.

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book consists of 9 short stories. I used "The Bouquet" as a major reference in a paper I wrote about the progression of students to teachers in the post-Civil War South. Here is a short exerpt:

Chesnutt’s writing embodies the transition of the student becoming the teacher in his short story The Bouquet. Mrs. Myrover, as an invalid, represents old regime—physically paralyzed but still alive / present. She (and the pre-Civil war South) “were “too old, and had suffered too deeply from war, in body and mind and estate, ever to reconcile herself to the changed order of things following the return of peace; and, with an unsound yet perfectly explainable logic, she visited some of her displeasure upon those who had profited most, though passively, by her losses” (Chesnutt 281). Though not monetarily, blacks could now receive an invaluable profit—an education. The receipt of this education was not free and “was not Northern charity, for the total cost of the Bureau, seventeen million dollars, was more than covered by a heavy tax on cotton, which by 1869 had yielded over sixty-eight million dollars” (Morison 18-20). Therefore, Southern Blacks had prepaid for their education with their work in, and any job related to cotton, which would encompass almost the entire South.

[Suzette Kunz · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories focus on the issue of "passing"--African Americans who look white and could pass for white. Mostly Chesnutt puts them in ethical situations where they need to decide how important loyalty to their race is. This is a key issue for Chesnutt, who also could have passed for white, but chose not to.

[Alifib · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short stories were mostly great and a look into a somewhat neglected slice of human experience—the racially ambiguous in the post-war and turn of the century south. The edition I downloaded (Project Gutenberg) dedicated the last 50 of 200 pages to a series of essays, the first few being largely raciological in nature, which I found kind of odd especially with today’s sensibilities. But I can appreciate that as a man who had 7/8ths White ancestry who nonetheless chose to remain in the Black community all his life, Chesnutt retained a keen interest in the subject and its minutiae.
Also, my alma mater’s library is named after him!

[Jo-Ann Leake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was roaming around the lists of free books on Librivox, with a preference toward short story anthologies. Along the way, I found the work of Charles W. Chesnutt, who I must confess that I'd not heard of. The subject matter was interesting and as I listened to the stories, each one was more appealing than the last and opened my eyes to the world of biracial folks in the post Civil War South.
I intend to read or listen to more of these works for the insight and scope of the challenges covered by Chesnutt, as representative of the group. Highly recommended.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had a disappointing streak of racist old mysteries by white people, and it's so refreshing to find an author who can write black characters with realism and sympathy. The short stories were mostly funny and clever with Br'er Rabbit twists, the book was on Project Gutenberg, and I'm off to download more.

[frances]

this is counting for me reading the goophered grapevine, conjurer's revenge, wife of his youth, disenfranchisement, what is a white man?, and superstitions/folklore of the south. i thought chesnutt was a really interesting writer to read and he set an interesting context for my southern black writers course. i am excited to see how his stories and essays connect to the novels we read in school.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful stories—in eloquent writing and with entertaining plots—that are relevant, historic, helpful for the understanding of environmental justice in the US, and inspiring for the promotion of equality and human rights.

[grimseilah☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

mr. charles i fear i may have judged you too harshly. the language nearly drove me insane—writers always butcher black southern accents—but the theme is meaningful. i can only hope the people of his time took from this the message they were supposed to.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only "Her Virginia Mammy"

[RK Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this in college... and it bugged me out.

[Jonathan Scheuer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories range from good to excellent. The style is realistic, with occasional touches of sentimental commentary. Some of the stories deal with white racism, and others focus on colorism and classism within African-American communities. The best of them, I think, are The Sheriff’s Children, The Web of Circumstance and A Matter of Principle. In The Sheriff's Children, set in a remote part of North Carolina in the 1880s, a white county sheriff heads to the jail to prevent a black man, accused of murder, from being lynched by a mob. The violent plot twists of this story wrench the reader’s sympathy in ways that remind me of Heinrich von Kleist’s short fictions. In The Web of Circumstance, a black man's family is destroyed as a consequence of his being unjustly accused of theft. The powerful realism of this story evokes Stephen Crane. A Matter of Principle is a keen satire of class prejudice among the Black bourgeoisie of the Southern states, somewhat in the manner of Anton Chekhov.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wife of His Youth is one of my favorite short stories. If you would like to teach your students about integrity, you won't go wrong with this one (also a post-reconstruction history lesson in there). Five stars for voice, as well. The other short stories in this book weren't as good, so no rating for those.

[Karalee Nice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although you come to look for the irony that Chesnutt uses masterfully, he still finds a way to surprise me in every one of these delightful short stories. An important literary figure of American Literature that examines the color line in the US post-reconstruction. Highly recommend as an important piece of the story in understanding the African American experience.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read the titular story and "Her Virgina Mammy" for a class assignment, but I would gladly read the rest of the book. Chesnutt is a great realistic writer that truly walks the "color line" with delicious ambiguity.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short stories concerning race issues immediately after the civil war. My high school students loved it.

[Sherellbe1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learn you can not hide from your past. Enjoyed Chesnutt's books and this was the first of many.

[deedee megadoodoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this short story c:
it was very cute but also a great example of a realistic text