Dorothy West's Paradise

CHERENE SHERRARD-JOHNSON is professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where she teaches nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and African American literature, cultural studies, and feminist theory. She is the author of Portraits of the New Negro Woman: Visual and Literary Culture in the Harlem Renaissance and the editor of a new, annotated edition of Jessie Redmon Fauset’s last novel, Comedy: American Style, both from Rutgers University Press.

"Soundly researched and well written, Dorothy West's Paradise adds significantly to our understanding of the Harlem Renaissance and its youngest surviving member." - Maureen Honey (editor of Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance) “An illuminating study that should secure West’s place in the canon and at the center of the racial geography of place, gender, and class.” - Paula J. Giddings (author of IDA, A Sword Among Lions) "Interest in the life and works of Dorothy West, now generally recognized as the last surviving artist of the Harlem Renaissance, has surged in the 21st century. In this new biography, Sherrard-Johnson emphasizes West's childhood as the dark-skinned daughter of a light-skinned African American Boston beauty, and her explorations, through her writing, or intra-racial color and class divisions. Recommended."(Choice) "An illuminating analysis of the ways black women writers negotiated race, class, and gender. Sherrard-Johnson’s book offers an intimate and valuable look at the complex relationships between some of the most heralded artists, writers, and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance."(American Studies) "Soundly researched and well written, Dorothy West's Paradise adds significantly to our understanding of the Harlem Renaissance and its youngest surviving member." - Maureen Honey (editor of Shadowed Dreams: Women's Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance) “An illuminating study that should secure West’s place in the canon and at the center of the racial geography of place, gender, and class.” - Paula J. Giddings (author of IDA, A Sword Among Lions) "Interest in the life and works of Dorothy West, now generally recognized as the last surviving artist of the Harlem Renaissance, has surged in the 21st century. In this new biography, Sherrard-Johnson emphasizes West's childhood as the dark-skinned daughter of a light-skinned African American Boston beauty, and her explorations, through her writing, or intra-racial color and class divisions. Recommended."(Choice) "An illuminating analysis of the ways black women writers negotiated race, class, and gender. Sherrard-Johnson’s book offers an intimate and valuable look at the complex relationships between some of the most heralded artists, writers, and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance."(American Studies)

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. A "Legend of Oak Bluffs"2. Childhood Sketches3. Dorothy West's "Typewriter"4. To Russia with Love5. New Challenges6. The Living is Easy7. Cottager's Corner8. Two WeddingsCoda: "Winter on Martha's Vineyard"NotesBibliographyIndex