The Old Judge

The House Behind the Cedars

by Charles Waddell CHESNUTT (1858 - 1932)

In this, Chesnutt's first novel, he tells the tragic story of love set against a backdrop of racism, miscegenation and “passing” during the period spanning the antebellum and reconstruction eras in American history. And through his use of the vernacular prevalent in the South of that time, Chesnutt lent a compassionate voice to a group that America did not want to hear. More broadly, however, Chesnutt illustrated, in this character play, the vast and perhaps insurmountable debt this country continues to pay for the sins of slavery. (Summary by James K. White)

Listen next episodes of The House Behind the Cedars:
A Gilded Opportunity , A Letter and A Journey , A Loyal Friend , A Mule And A Cart , An Injudicious Payment , An Interesting Acquaintance , An Unusual Honor , Balance All , Digging Up Roots , Doubts And Fears , Down The River , God Made Us All , Imperative Business , In Deep Waters , 'Mid New Surroundings , Mine Own People , Plato Earns Half A Dollar , Swing Your Partners , The Bottom Falls Out , The Courtship , The Dream , The Guest of Honor , The Lost Knife , The Power of Love , The Queen of Love and Beauty , The Schoolhouse In The Woods , The Tournament , Tryon Goes To Patesville , Two Letters , Under The Old Regime