a thoughtful companion for reading Chesnutt's novel of racial passing, here to help you read Charles W. Chesnutt's The House Behind the Cedars closely — its mechanics of racial passing, the Reconstruction-era legal and social order that makes passing both necessary and dangerous, and Chesnutt's own complicated relationship to the story he's telling.
Getting Oriented
Context & Craft
Based on "The House Behind the Cedars" by Charles W. Chesnutt