"Based on the true story of the first African-American woman to ever go to Vassar College. The catch? No one knew she was African-American. After befriending the school’s Serena van der Woodsen, she has to work even harder at keeping her secret. Think: “Gatsby” meets college meets an impressive beach read."
This fictionalized take on Hemmings’s real-life story animates her struggle to straddle two worlds, each with its own separate definition of freedom.
In this gripping, tension-filled story, Karin Tanabe reveals to us the impossible choices that one woman was forced to make when she decided to follow her dream for a better life. As with many courageous acts, controversy follows our heroine, and for that reason alone book clubs will find much to discuss here. An utterly captivating narrative that kept me turning pages late into the night.
This engaging novel, set in a time of conflict between old money and new ideas, captures both the bravery and the heartbreak of Anita’s decision...the story is a captivating one. Readers won’t soon forget Anita Hemmings or the choices she made.
Tanabe immerses the reader in a world of romance and manners, but also leaves you gripping the edge of your seat...An elegant and extremely gratifying imagining of one remarkable woman's life.
Entwined with a timely history lesson is a forbidden love story that moves from Kristallnacht in Vienna to Crystal City in Texas, to Shanghai, Tokyo and the oceans between. With the eye of a war correspondent, the author illuminates the moral ambiguities of national alliances and the transcendent power of love.
Praise for The Diplomat's Daughter:
“Tanabe smoothly blends history, race and class into a whip-smart novel [with a] vividly complex heroine."
"Above all, this is a novel about people from different backgrounds and walks of life being flung together by circumstance and finding love...[Tanabe's] attachment to her characters and passion for the period shine through."
In Anita’s captivating story, heightened by richly drawn characters, Tanabe insightfully grapples with complex and compelling issues.
Tanabe's back with another summer read chock full of drama and rich historical detail.
Brilliant, beautiful, and kind, Anita Hemmings should be a perfect fit for Vassar College.But it’s 1897, and while Anita appears to be Caucasian, her school would be scandalized if it knew her secret. In a story at once heartbreaking and uplifting, Karin Tanabe limns the tensions of a young woman’s desire to participate fully in a world in which she doesn’t dare reveal her full self,the myopia of a society twisted by soul-straitening rules, and the wonders—and frustrations—of the highest rung of women’s education at the turn of the last century. Most impressive are the characters' emotional complexity; Tanabe understands that human relations are never so simple as black and white.
"Enticing...As Anita is drawn into Lottie's elite world, her secret roars beneath everything, threatening every step she takes."
"Tanabe has written a moving portrait of a fascinating and complicated woman who crossed the color line when the stakes were high. This richly imagined novel about a woman of brilliance and fierce self-creation is sure to captivate readers as it did me."
[The Gilded Years] is trademark Tanabe: a juicy plot, charming writing, shrewd observations. But here, there are also shades of Edith Wharton...This story of race and class is compelling and wise.
Well-drawn, believable characters, a timely theme and a plot that holds your interest as the action moves from Austria, to the United States, Japan and China.
“The Gilded Years really brought home the horrific limitations and choices that were faced by black people post-Civil War, even in the supposedly more enlightened North. The characters were vivid and compelling, and it was heartbreaking to witness the terrible lie Anita was forced into to achieve her dream of a Vassar education. That the story is based on true people only added to its richness.
"The Gilded Years is a thrilling and foreboding tale about social and racial rules in nineteenth century America. Anita Hemmings begins her senior year at Vassar in 1896, the year that the Plessy doctrine of separate but equal became the law of the land. She is at the top of her class, speaks five languages, and is the class beauty. One rumor away from disaster, Anita lives with a secret that could get her thrown out of Vassar, injure her family, and destroy her academic future. Tanabe’s narration is reminiscent of novels of the 1890s, with dialogue that is spot on for that era. The compelling story covers a shameful time in American history, and is unrelenting in its tension and gripping detail."
"This charming, thoughtful, and affecting book tells the story of the first black woman to attend Vassar. That she attended as a white woman, passing and always at risk of exposure, drives the plot and allows Tanabe to tell a rich, complicated story about race, gender, education, love, and belonging in the Gilded Age."
The true story of Anita Hemmings, Vassar College’s first African-American graduate, comes to life in vivid detail in Tanabe’s The Gilded Years. Hemmings’ gut-wrenching decision to pass as white in order to obtain an education is a poignant journey and Tanabe’s lyrical style is sure to keep readers turning pages.
Tanabe’s captivating novel sweeps across three continents during World War II...top-notch storytelling and a gripping plot make this a satisfying read.
"Karin Tanabe’s moving new novel, The Diplomat's Daughter, is set during the global turmoil of the late 1930s and ‘40s, but its political resonance is timeless and its story is captivating...All this makes for rich reading. And even though we know how World War II concludes, the fates of Emi, Leo, and Christian will surprise you."
Praise for The Gilded Years:
“Smart and thoughtful, The Gilded Years is a must-read this summer.
The Gilded Years tells the compelling story of Anita Hemmings, a woman who defied the expectations and limitation of her world to follow her mind and her heart. Karin Tanabe weaves a tale rich with historical detail and heartbreaking human emotion that demonstrate the complex and unjust choices facing a woman of color in 19th century America. That so many of the questions explored by Tanabe about race, gender, ambition and privilege still resonate today makes this novel required reading.
In Anita’s captivating story, heightened by richly drawn characters, Tanabe insightfully grapples with complex and compelling issues.
“Tanabe smoothly blends history, race and class into a whip-smart novel [with a] vividly complex heroine."
Tanabe immerses the reader in a world of romance and manners, but also leaves you gripping the edge of your seat...An elegant and extremely gratifying imagining of one remarkable woman's life.
Tanabe's back with another summer read chock full of drama and rich historical detail.
"Karin Tanabe’s moving new novel, The Diplomat's Daughter, is set during the global turmoil of the late 1930s and ‘40s, but its political resonance is timeless and its story is captivating...All this makes for rich reading. And even though we know how World War II concludes, the fates of Emi, Leo, and Christian will surprise you."
"In 1897, Anita Hemmings graduated from Vassar, concealing a truth: She was the school's first black student, passing for white. This fictionalized take on Hemmings's real-life story is strong on dialogue that animates her struggle to straddle two worlds, each with its own separate definition of freedom."
2017-04-17
As World War II looms, three young people face internment, violence, and shattered futures.Tanabe (The Gilded Years, 2016, etc.) elegantly shifts among the storylines of Emi Kato, the daughter of a Japanese diplomat, Leo Hartmann, the son of an Austrian-Jewish banker, and Christian Lange, the son of a German-born steel baron. Accustomed to a lifestyle of refined, cosmopolitan civilities, Emi has lived in Japan, London, Berlin, Vienna, and Washington, D.C. An accomplished pianist, her talents beckon Leo through the hallways of their Catholic school in Vienna. Enchanted, he brings Emi home to meet his mother, who encourages her to play for them every day on their priceless, hand-painted Steinway. Rising anti-Semitism throughout Europe, Hitlerjugend in the classrooms, and Hitler's Anschluss into Austria threaten their love affair, and the Hartmanns must flee for their lives. Soon Emi follows her father to America. Heartbroken and surviving on letters sent with hope but arriving late if at all, Emi and Leo try to carry on, waiting to reunite after the war. Washington, however, proves unsafe, as well, once Japan allies with Germany, so Emi and her family are detained, yet illness prevents Emi from quick deportation. Instead, she and her mother find themselves shuttled into internment camps. Meanwhile Christian's affluent family is woken in the middle of a Wisconsin night and detained, as well, eventually ending up at the same internment camp as Emi. A shocking accident lands Christian's mother in the hospital, where he meets Emi, who has been working as a nurse's aide, and love blossoms. Yet again, politics interrupt life, sending both lovers into the chaos of the Pacific theater. Tanabe gracefully entwines these lives, deftly depicting the psychological devastation of thwarted futures and poignantly sketching the shifts into cherishing the present moment. A gorgeously sweeping tale of the transcendence of love.
