Race: The Colour of Shame

By: Marie-Madeleine MacLean

Narrated by: Dave Fennoy

Race: The Colour of Shame is a complex supernatural thriller describing the devastating effect that a Negro wayward gene has on the Hoxworths, a rich and powerful southern Caucasian American family.

A mulatto boy, the offspring of a Hoxworth male and a young female slave whom he raped, is born two centuries prior and is the last surviving male heir. The prologue takes us back 60 years to the magnificent Hoxworth Castle near the city of New Orleans to witness the birth of a baby girl in the family's palatial birthing room. As the baby's skin rapidly begins to darken, the Hoxworths must once again deny their mixed ancestry. And as so many times before, they must have their trusted family doctor, on the order of the family matriarch, suffocate the child to keep their dark secret.

©2013 Mari-Madeleine MacLean (P)2016 Cherry Hill Publishing, LLC

Critic reviews

"Ms MacLean's debut novel illuminates the difficulty of racial identity and the chaos it can create. The narrative deftly investigates racism beyond simple black and white figures. This astutely delicate dramatisation of race relations dotted with ghosts, sex scenes and rambling in New Orleans and abroad can be thrilling. The story provides a worthwhile glimpse at how startling the answers to questions of heredity can be." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Race The Color Of Shame

Race The Color Of Shame is impeccably written by one of the most gifted Novelists of her generation. Her book is stunning. Haunting beautiful. It’s the best book I have ever read. I highly recommend.