The Wedding Paperback - 1996

First line

On a morning in late August, the morning before the wedding, the sun rising out of the quiet sea stirred the Oval from its shapeless sleep and gave dimension and design to the ring of summer cottages.

From the jacket flap

The publication of "The Wedding by Dorothy West, the last surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance, was not only a landmark literary event, but a commercial success as well. Readers across America responded to West's delicat weaving of North and South, black and white, past and present in this "fascinating and engrossing tale" ("People) of race and class set in Martha's Vineyard.In her first novel in forty-seven years, West offers a window into the rise of the black middle class as she lived it. Wise, heartfelt, and shattering, "The Wedding is Dorothy West's crowning achievement, and one of the last books edited for Doubleday by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Media reviews

"A fascinating and unforgettable tale."- People

"West is a wonderful storyteller, painting vivid and memorable scenes of the life and plight of African Americans from slavery to the fifties.  The Wedding is an engrossing tale."- USA Today

"In The Wedding, West brilliantly portrays the ferocity of class, race, and gender distinctions within family, groups, and generations."- Entertainment Weekly

"Dorothy West is an epic storyteller."- Quarterly Black Review of Books

"The Wedding's prose has biblical rhythms and echoes of William Faulkner.  This novel of Dorothy West's later life is luminous, unexpected gift that should bring her a new generation of admirers."- The Washington Post

Citations

• Black Issues Book Review, 01/01/2000, Page 54
• Ebony, 02/01/2013, Page 73
• Essence, 07/01/2011, Page 66
• New York Times, 03/03/1996, Page 28