The Living is Easy

by Dorothy West, Adelaide M. Cromwell (Afterword)

Overview

One of only a handful of novels published by black women during the 1940s, The Living is Easy tells the story of Cleo Judson, daughter of southern sharecroppers, who wants to become a member of Boston's early twentieth-century elite. Married to the "black banana king," she manipulates her three sisters into living with her, along with their children - but not their husbands - in an attempt to recreate her original family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558611474
Publisher:	Feminist Press at CUNY, The
Publication date:	07/01/1995
Series:	American Negro: His History and Literature Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dorothy West (1907–1998) shared the coveted Opportunity short-story prize with Zora Neale Hurston in 1927 and later moved to New York, where she became the youngest of the writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance. West founded and edited the influential African American literary magazine the Challenge and New Challenge. Also the author of The Wedding and The Richer, The Poorer, she lived on Martha’s Vineyard until her death.

Editorial Reviews

"[A] powerful work." —Essence

"Skillful prose and unmitigated societal critique will keep readers engaged to the end. West’s essential classic continues to endure." —Publishers Weekly

"Concerned with the magical qualities of black girlhood . . .The Living Is Easy focuses on the special role of the mother in childhood fantasies. . . . Cleo Jericho Judson is a grown woman when we first meet her . . . but it is the incomplete relationship with her long-dead mother that still drives her." —Village Voice

"The important thing about the book is its abundance and special woman's energy and beat. The beat is a deep one, and it often makes a man's seem puny." —The New York Times

“The living here—for West's characters, the Black community, herself—is hardly easy, but their ‘wildness’ continues to provoke, embolden and inspire.” —Shelf Awareness

"[Dorothy West] is a brisk storyteller with an eye for ironical detail . . . [and] a deft stylist and writer of social satire." —Ms. magazine

“This novel, while originally published in 1948, is a relevant piece for some of our current dialogue. Cleo is a product of a racist society, and her story is a challenge for us to understand our own shortcomings, privileges, and interactions with the world. Dorothy West paints a vivid portrait of an unforgettable antihero.”—Independent Book Review

From the Publisher