Caucasia

This emotional novel tells the story of an interracial family from the perspective of Birdie Lee, the light skinned, straight haired daughter of Sandra Lodge Lee, a white woman who comes from an old Boston "blueblood" family, and Deck Lee, a Black man who went to college at Harvard. Birdie's older sister, Cole (Colette), has much darker skin and tightly curled hair, and the two sisters experience different treatment from the people in their lives based on how they look. Early in the book, the girls' parents split up. Sandra is involved in political activism that Deck thinks is too risky. Eventually, Sandra decides she needs to flee Boston and go into hiding because of her political activities, so the girls are separated. Cole goes with Deck and his Black girlfriend Carmen to Brazil, and Birdie goes on the run with Sandra. Along the way she learns that she will present herself as a white Jewish girl as part of her mother's disguise, since the authorities will be looking for a white woman with a Black daughter.

This is an emotional, reflective novel, but it is also a story well told. Sandra and Deck Lee are likeable people with their own complicated histories and motives, but the consequences of their choices for their daughters are profound.