Inventing Victoria

"For lovers of historical fiction, it can often feel like you’re forced to choose between books with a social conscience and books replete with an appreciation for the past’s refined grandeur – you get either the charm of a ballroom or a frank analysis of the oppressive systems that created that wealth. Not so with Tonya Bolden’s terrific coming of age story, which follows Essie Mirth, a poor girl from Savannah, Ga., as she reinvents herself as Victoria Vashon to join the small but fascinating world of Washington’s black high society. Here you get all the joys of heliotrope silk gowns described to the last detail, but also a stark picture of the cost of attempting to manufacture “respectability” on terms set by people who deny your humanity."