Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow: The Courtship and Marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore

Rating:
Summary: Better to have love and lost...
Review: How do two African-Americans, who are uncomfortable in the skin they are born in, forge a successful union in the early 1900s if the relationship is doomed from the beginning? Eleanor Alexander depicts the courtship and marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore, African-American pioneers in the literary arena.

Paul Dunbar is born in Dayton, Ohio on June 27, 1872 to a doting mother and an abusive father. A sickly child, Paul has an unusually close relationship with his mother, Matilda. He writes his first poem about a problematic marriage at the age of eleven probably based on his parent's relationship. Paul hits it big on the literary scene with tales of plantation Negroes who speak with broken English and are a source of amusement to his white audience. He grows to loathe the tales as his more serious work goes unnoticed. 

Alice Moore is the illegitimate daughter of a woman who washes clothes for a living. Her mother educates her and her sister. Their mother seeks the best for them and they grow into cultured young ladies. Alice and her sister are able to pass for white. This causes her not to identify herself as being Negro. Alice's stories often centers on female characters who are referred to as Mulatto or Creole but never Negro. 

Both Paul and Alice hate their African-American heritage. Paul falls in love with Alice when he sees a picture of her in a magazine. He prefers to date light-skinned or Mulatto woman. Although Alice detest Paul's dark skin but she is drawn to his fame in the literary world and what his fame could potentially do for her writing career.

They keep their courtship private, communicating through letters.  Paul suffers from mental issues and alcoholism. He also holds sexist views, handed down from his father, causing him to be abusive. These factors, added with the extra "burden" of being Negro during this time period, adds to the destruction of their marriage.

Eleanor Alexander recounts an excellent part of history regarding the marriage relationship of a prominent African-American couple. The book is repetitious at times but she gave very extensive information regarding the thoughts and feelings on racism, sexism and class status. This was a fascinating yet tragic love story.

Reviewed by Paula Henderson of Loose Leaves Book Review.