Like One of The Family
by Alice Childress
Publication Date: Jan 24, 2017
List Price: $18.00
Format: Paperback, 272 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780807050743
Imprint: Beacon Press
Publisher: Beacon Press
Parent Company: Unitarian Universalist Association
Paperback Description:
A new edition of Alice Childress’s classic novel about African American domestic workers, featuring a foreword by Roxane Gay
First published in Paul Robeson’s newspaper, Freedom, and composed of a series of conversations between Mildred, a black domestic, and her friend Marge, Like One of the Family is a wry, incisive portrait of working women in Harlem in the 1950’s. Rippling with satire and humor, Mildred’s outspoken accounts vividly capture her white employers’ complacency and condescension and their startled reactions to a maid who speaks her mind and refuses to exchange dignity for pay.
Upon publication the book sparked a critique of working conditions, laying the groundwork for the contemporary domestic worker movement. Although she was critically praised, Childress’s uncompromising politics and unflinching depictions of racism, classism, and sexism relegated her to the fringe of American literature. Like One of the Family has been long overlooked, but this new edition, featuring a foreword by best-selling author Roxane Gay, will introduce Childress to a new generation.
First published in Paul Robeson’s newspaper, Freedom, and composed of a series of conversations between Mildred, a black domestic, and her friend Marge, Like One of the Family is a wry, incisive portrait of working women in Harlem in the 1950’s. Rippling with satire and humor, Mildred’s outspoken accounts vividly capture her white employers’ complacency and condescension and their startled reactions to a maid who speaks her mind and refuses to exchange dignity for pay.
Upon publication the book sparked a critique of working conditions, laying the groundwork for the contemporary domestic worker movement. Although she was critically praised, Childress’s uncompromising politics and unflinching depictions of racism, classism, and sexism relegated her to the fringe of American literature. Like One of the Family has been long overlooked, but this new edition, featuring a foreword by best-selling author Roxane Gay, will introduce Childress to a new generation.
Books similiar to Like One of The Family may be found in the categories below:
- Fiction / African American & Black / Historical
- Fiction / African American & Black / Women
- Fiction / Satire