A Matter of Complexion

In 'A Matter of Complexion', Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehensive biography of Charles W. Chesnutt. A poor teacher raised in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction, Chesnutt became the first professional African American writer to break into the all-white literary establishment and win admirers as diverse as William Dean Howells, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells and Lorraine Hansberry.