Black history is American history. What better way to learn more about Black history than through historical fiction? Novels open up the past as it was lived and felt, offering deeper truths and richer insights than factual narratives alone.
In my Julia Kydd novels, I use historical mystery to explore the experiences of a wealthy young white woman living in Jazz Age Manhattan. Julia thinks of herself as sophisticated and progressive in her tastes and worldview. She relishes the 1920s as gloriously modern, embracing its new freedoms and, at last, forward-looking social reforms.
Julia believes America’s shameful history of slavery and pernicious racism is truly past, thanks to sixty years’ progress since abolition and constitutional amendments assuring rights for Black citizens. She and most other seemingly enlightened white Americans think the country has dispelled slavery’s shadow. Modern America promises equality and justice for all, right?
Passing Fancies tells the story of Julia’s awakening to the painful truth of her ignorance. When her new friend, a Black Harlem Renaissance writer, is caught up in a sensational murder, Julia witnesses the profound racism that permeates every level of the American justice system. Shaken and ashamed at her naïveté, Julia must come to terms with her own privileges and blindspots.
February, Black History Month, is the perfect time to explore the human stories beneath our nation’s past. For powerful new glimpses into Black experiences of the 1920s, I recommend two recent historical novels, both published last year:
- Jacqueline Woodson’s Red at the Bone, with a moving account of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, when a white mob destroyed an entire thriving Black community.
- Lyndsay Faye’s Paragon Hotel, exposing the consequences of Oregon’s decades-long effort to create a whites-only society.
Most libraries and booksellers are happy to provide more excellent suggestions that explore Black history through historical fiction. My own reading list keeps growing every day. I’ll share if you will.
