Plum Bun

A young woman hides her African American identity in this semiautobiographical novel by a literary “force to be reckoned with” of the Harlem Renaissance (Shonda Rhimes).

A young girl, Angela Murray lives in Philadelphia’s black community, but after losing both of her parents, she decides to leave her sister behind and move to New York. With her light skin tone, she can pass for white and, perhaps, escape the burden of racism and find the freedom to succeed. Once in the city, she looks for new opportunities, finds a place for herself among a community of artists, and becomes romantically involved with a member of the white social elite. But Angela’s deception comes at a painful cost, and—as a woman—she learns that racial prejudice is not the only obstacle she needs to overcome.

Incorporating many aspects of the author’s own experience, Plum Bun comes from a writer praised by W. E. B. duBois, who noted the novel’s “human touch and interesting action and plot.”