The Gilded Years

Trade Paperback – NEW

Passing meets The House of Mirth in this utterly captivating (Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House) historical novel based on the true story of Anita Hemmings, the first black student to attend Vassar, who successfully passed as whiteuntil she let herself grow too attached to the wrong person.

Since childhood, Anita Hemmings has longed to attend the countrys most exclusive school for women, Vassar College. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret that would have banned her from admission: Anita is the only African-American student ever to attend Vassar. With her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white, but now finds herself rooming with Louise Lottie Taylor, the scion of one of New Yorks most prominent families.

Though Anita has kept herself at a distance from her classmates, Lotties sphere of influence is inescapable, her energy irresistible, and the two become fast friends. Pulled into her elite world, Anita learns what its like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white womanthe person everyone believes her to beand even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. Its only when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anitas brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sisters, that the situation becomes particularly perilous. And as Anitas college graduation looms, those closest to her will be the ones to dangerously threaten her secret.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of the Gilded Age, an era when old money traditions collided with modern ideas, Tanabe has written an unputdownable and emotionally compelling story of hope, sacrifice, and betrayaland a gripping account of how one woman dared to risk everything for the chance at a better life.