Comedy, American style

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Comedy: American Style (1933), Fauset's fourth and last published novel, is the tragic story of how color prejudice and racial self-hatred result in the destruction of a family. The work is filled with vivid characters: Olivia Cary, whose mania in passing for white poisons her relationships with those closest to her; her daughter, Teresa, compelled by her mother to make choices that ruin her life; Phebe Grant, a woman of integrity who refuses to deny her race; and Oliver Cary, rejected by a mother unable to accept the color of his skin and her own heritage. A novel that received mixed reviews on its original publication, Comedy: American Style raises compelling and disturbing themes.