James Mcbride

The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother James Mcbride

This beautifully written New York Times bestseller has become a new American classic.

As a boy in Brooklyn's Red Hook projects, James McBride knew his mother was different. But when he asked about it, she'd simply say, "I'm light-skinned." Later he wondered if he was different too, and asked his mother if he was black or white. "You're a human being," she snapped. "Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!" And when James asked what color God was, she said, "God is the color of water."

As an adult, McBride finally persuaded his mother to tell her story--the story of a rabbi's daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to Harlem after encountering anti-Semitism in her small town. Upon marrying a black man, her family promptly disowned her, causing her to launch a second existence as (to quote her son) "a flying compilation of competing interests and conflicts, a black woman in white skin." The Color of Water is a poignant exploration of race, family, and identity, juxtaposing the author's experiences with his mother's stories.