Swan
by Africa Fine
_______________________________________________________
Swan is the story of Delia “Duck” Dukes, a girl who escapes
her small Texas town in the 1940’s and 1950’s, seeking to shed
her reputation for being the ugly duckling in her family and
escape an abusive stepfather.
It is also the story of her older sister, Merline, who finds
forbidden love with a white man, and their mother Violet,
who shuts off her emotions after a lifetime of pain.
Although she moves to Chicago and pursues her goal of
being a singer, Duck cannot seem to cut the ties to her
inattentive mother and pretty, mean-spirited sister Merline.
The novel follows Duck and Merline’s lives as they take very
different paths into adulthood. Merline works as a maid and
raises a biracial daughter who eventually begins passing as
white, and Duck finds succeeds as a singer but struggles to
find love.
When their mother dies, Duck and Merline reunite for the first
time in nearly thirty years, trying to find common ground
between sisters whose lives have been so different.
by Africa Fine
_______________________________________________________
Swan is the story of Delia “Duck” Dukes, a girl who escapes
her small Texas town in the 1940’s and 1950’s, seeking to shed
her reputation for being the ugly duckling in her family and
escape an abusive stepfather.
It is also the story of her older sister, Merline, who finds
forbidden love with a white man, and their mother Violet,
who shuts off her emotions after a lifetime of pain.
Although she moves to Chicago and pursues her goal of
being a singer, Duck cannot seem to cut the ties to her
inattentive mother and pretty, mean-spirited sister Merline.
The novel follows Duck and Merline’s lives as they take very
different paths into adulthood. Merline works as a maid and
raises a biracial daughter who eventually begins passing as
white, and Duck finds succeeds as a singer but struggles to
find love.
When their mother dies, Duck and Merline reunite for the first
time in nearly thirty years, trying to find common ground
between sisters whose lives have been so different.
| All rights reserved. |
africa fine
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