Caucasia: A Novel

I was immediately captured by Danzy Senna's "Caucasia", and very impressed with her writing--the characters, neighborhoods, cities, and situations she describes are all very vivid and realistic. The story line itself was intriguing and thought-provoking; two bi-racial sisters separated in childhood by their parents break-up, the dark-skinned daughter disappearing with their Black father, and the fair-skinned daughter disappearing with their White mother. This split along skin-color lines has a huge impact on the lives of both girls, who are suddenly forced to move on with the formation of their identities without each other, when once they were intertwined with a fierce sisterly bond, and a secret language called Elemeno. I think being bi-racial myself is what drew me to this book originally, but the many different issues and themes in the book (racism, identity, political and philosophical fanatacism, etc)kept my interest. In my family, my mother is Black, and my father is White, and the book made me wonder if Cole and Birdie would have been separated the same way if their father Deck had been White, and their mother Sandy had been Black. A great read! I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Caucasia was chosen by my book club, and I must say that it is probably the most profound book I've read on being biracial and growing up in race conscious America. As someone who lived in Boston, MA for many years, I was fascinated by Senna's analysis of the race issue in a city that is still extremely racial and extremely segregated. I absolutely adored the relationship between the two sisters. I particularly appreciated the sensitivity with which Senna dealt with the girls growing up with a white liberal mother, who had no concept of day-to-day "black issues," i.e. braiding hair, the necessity of lotion. I would have liked more insight into the parents' initial attraction to one another, but then again, the book was not about how an African-American male in Boston in the 1960s could marry a white woman from an old New England family. My hat goes off to Senna for her marvelous work. Thanks for bringing these issues to the forefront and forcing American readers to wrestle with the tough notion of being biracial.

I read this fantastic book durning my holiday vacation from work. This was truly a treat. I usually do not find an interest in the bi-racial, poor white mother and her black kids drama. However, as a black women my need to support this young black women by purchasing her first novel won out over the lack of desire to read what I though would be another tragic mullatto story. But from the very begining I could not put this very well written work down. I related to a mother's love for her children and love of a man, for the unexplainable reason of just because. I looked at my daughter alot while reading this book because it made me remember, that she is an indiviual and her reality is a lot different from mine because she is coming of age, and I have been there. I was entertained and enlighten. Ms. Senna has written more than a book about being bi-racial. She has written a book about love.

From the moment I read the first page of Caucasia until I finished the authors acknowledgements, this book completely devoured me. This story and Senna's voice are so true to me right now, that as I read page after page, New York City and the rest of my life faded quietly back into an opaque background for her story. The author saves for us in perfect crystalline details the moments in which our true selves climb out, from wherever the world has convinced us to hide them, and forcibly define who we are.Suffice it to say that, I am sending copies to the people that I have always wanted to understand me better, and I am saving the book in my hands for my daughter.

Born to a white mother and a Black father, both intellectuals and civil rights activists, Birdie Lee and her older sister Cole invent ways to survive the racist tangle of 1970's America. The sisters are so close they speak a secret language they call Elemeno, after their favorite letters in the alphabet. The survival of the imaginary Elemeno people, Cole explains, depends on their ability to move chameleon-like, through their surroundings. To survive they must blend in. Birdie asks, "What is the point of surviving if you have to disappear?" [...] The book's honesty is surprising. In essence, it is the story of a mulatto girls' survival at the expense of her identity. Through Birdie's wise innocence we are invited to wander with her through a labyrinth of stereotypes where she must navigate a path of survival without losing who she is, simultaneously black and white. Senna's story warms the reader to the overdone subject of race without being even the slightest bit preachy. Senna is able to stick a needle into the immovable issue of race and weave a beautiful tale of loss and reality. The answer to the Elemeno's paradox of surviving is answered smoothly and without romance. Senna captures the flavor of time and place so vividly that the reader is left sitting at the table long after the feast with explicit reflection. The characters are funky, quirky and very human. Told in the first person, Birdie is a believably courageous and apt heroine. It is a privilege to visit the world through her eyes and impossible to take your own off the page.