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The Quadroons
A chaotic and tragic interracial romance set in era that was not yet ready to accept a man and woman loving each other regardless of racial heritage or status.
ebook
First published January 1, 1842
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About the author
Lydia Maria Child
366 books49 followersLydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an activist and writer of novels, pamphlets, and works for children. She often used her writing to advocate for slaves, women, and Native Americans. Lydia Maria Child was born in Medford, Massachusetts, where her grandfather’s house, which she celebrates in her poem, still stands.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 16, 2020
The quadroons was a mother and daughter's tragic story... every word will hold you until the end!
May 20, 2018
A strange story of love and tragedy, history and slavery. Loved the writer's writing style by the way.
May 16, 2018
What tragic love fall upon women from the same lineage.
November 5, 2018
A Review in A Sentence
Child was a woman ahead of her time and a damn good short story writer.
Child was a woman ahead of her time and a damn good short story writer.
February 8, 2021
This story started the rather abysmal "Tragic-Mulatto" subgenre, in which a person of mixed race is presented in a tragedy where they display no agency and are essentially a helpless damsel in distress.
Such is the case in this story, in which said mixed-race protagonist is put through a depressing plot in which they display no agency over their fate, and are most definitely a damsel in distress. It doesn't really present any concrete philosophical insight about racism, it just simply presents a vaguely sad tropey narrative about a black person's terrible life.
This is the exact problem with stories about racism being written by a white author who has definitely never experienced racism, as it just comes across as really insincere and inauthentic. These characters operate like cardboard cutouts, just standing there and crying on-cue, or looking dramatically into the moonlight on-cue, lacking any defined reality. That problem definitely comes from the fact the author is totally ignorant to the experiences of mixed-race people, since she herself is not mixed-race, and therefore has absolutely no frame-of-reference. Having no reality to draw from, she just proceeds to make sh*t up, which absolutely doesn't reflect the mixed-race experience in the United States at all.
If you want a more true-to-life version of mixed-race experiences, here are some works to check out:
-Caucasia (1998)
-Children of Perdition (2006)
-Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience (2006)
-Everything I Never Told You (2014)
*Notice how all these great books are by mixed-race authors, funny what happens when you let people tell their own stories.
Such is the case in this story, in which said mixed-race protagonist is put through a depressing plot in which they display no agency over their fate, and are most definitely a damsel in distress. It doesn't really present any concrete philosophical insight about racism, it just simply presents a vaguely sad tropey narrative about a black person's terrible life.
This is the exact problem with stories about racism being written by a white author who has definitely never experienced racism, as it just comes across as really insincere and inauthentic. These characters operate like cardboard cutouts, just standing there and crying on-cue, or looking dramatically into the moonlight on-cue, lacking any defined reality. That problem definitely comes from the fact the author is totally ignorant to the experiences of mixed-race people, since she herself is not mixed-race, and therefore has absolutely no frame-of-reference. Having no reality to draw from, she just proceeds to make sh*t up, which absolutely doesn't reflect the mixed-race experience in the United States at all.
If you want a more true-to-life version of mixed-race experiences, here are some works to check out:
-Caucasia (1998)
-Children of Perdition (2006)
-Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience (2006)
-Everything I Never Told You (2014)
*Notice how all these great books are by mixed-race authors, funny what happens when you let people tell their own stories.
January 21, 2025
The writing was beautiful and powerful. As Xarifa's sorrows piled up so did mine. It was devastating to see a beloved girl, who felt deeply, who loved and grieved her parents and lover, not be mourned. She was buried silently whereas she lived colorfully. The breaking of the fourth wall at the end send chills down my spine.
September 3, 2019
I had to read this for one of my classes and it was tragically beautiful. The story was tragic, yet the writing was gorgeous. It will be a story that I think about for a long time to come.
November 1, 2020
Emotional look at this beautiful ethic group and the unfair challenges of being a woman of color.
April 6, 2022
great - mother daughter sadness
May 5, 2022
i DEMAND somebody to discover an unpublished prequel of just Edward and Rosalie’s love story somewhere in Lydia Maria Child’s long lost archives?? She wrote abt love SOO BEAUTIFULLY
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April 11, 2023Read for American Lit 1820-1870
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews