Summary

Sweetness begins the novel not by telling a joyous story of her child’s birth but instead by professing over and over, “It’s not my fault.” During a time when even African Americans judged each other based on the lightness or darkness of skin color, the light-skinned, “high yellow” Sweetness gives birth to a very dark child who has “too-thick lips…funny-colored eyes, crow-black with a blue tint, something witchy about them too.” Sweetness is ashamed of Lula Ann from the moment she is born. Wishing Lula Ann had not been born that terrible color, Sweetness places a blanket over the child’s face, begins to press to smother her daughter's breath, but then realizes she cannot do such a thing. She thus bears the shame throughout the child’s formative years. Sweetness withholds physical and emotional love and tenderness from...