African American Women Writers

Rozelle Quinn is so fair-skinned that she can pass for white. Her ten children are mostly light too. They constitute the only world she rules and controls. Her power over them is all she has in an otherwise cruel and uncaring world. Rozelle favours her light-skinned kids, but Tangy Mae, her darkest skinned child, is the brightest and desperately wants to continue her education. Her mother, however, wants her daughter to work cleaning houses for whites and accompany her to the farmhouse' where Rozelle beds men for extra money. Tangy Mae, she's decided, is come of age.'