bibliography for Shirley Ann Grau blog posts

Allen-Taylor, Douglas J. “The World According to Grau.” Metroactive Books. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/02.26.98/cover/lit-grau-9808.html. (03 May 2008).

“Controversial writer reissued and revisited.” CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/12/29/shirley.grau.ap/index.html. (03 May 2008).

Ford, Nick Aaron. "the Black Prince and Other Stories Review." Phylon 16.2 (1955): 206.

Grau, Shirley Ann. The Black Prince and Other Stories. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1955.

---. Nine Women. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1985.

Rohrberger, Mary. "Shirley Ann Grau and the Short Story." Southern Quarterly 21.4 (1983): 83- 101.

Schlueter, Paul. Shirley Ann Grau. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1981.

"Shirley Ann Grau." Contemporary Authors Online (2008): 3 May 2008. Biographical Resource Center. Gale.

“Shirley Ann Grau.” Contemporary Novelists (2001): 3 May 2008. Biographical Resource Center. Gale.

“Shirley Ann Grau.” Contemporary Southern Writers (1999): 3 May 2008. Biographical Resource Center. Gale.

Shirley Ann Grau's most prized work...

Published at the height of the Civil Rights movement, Keepers of the House (1964) is probably Shirley Ann Grau's most notable work. The story chronicles many generations of the Howland family, a Southern “dynasty” by any definition. For years and years, the family has “kept” the same house, passed through the Howland patriarchs, all named William. The story settles on the latest William and his rather controversial lifestyle. Set in the early to mid- twentieth century South, it is unheard of that an affluent and prominent white man would have an involvement with a black housekeeper. Yet William continues his 30-year love affair with his servant, Margaret, of which she bore three children, and he two more from a previous marriage. Williams and Margaret wanted the best for their children, so they tried their best their entire lives to pass them off as white, sending them to various parts of the country to pursue a life as a prejudice-free white. All three children go in completely different directions. Robert marries a white woman in Seattle; Nina marries a black man in the North. The youngest of the three, Crissy, lives in Paris and is able to accept her interracial identity more freely than any of her siblings.

Meanwhile, William's granddaughter Abigail, who is full-blooded white from the previous marriage-line, has returned from England and marries an up-an-coming politician, who is noted for his staunch segregationist platform, and has three children. As she learns of her grandfather's true nature and identity, she struggles with her own feelings on blacks, torn between superiority, resentment, and indifference. She looks upon her own mixed family with a cold nature.

Soon, the public learns of the illegitimate marriage between Robert and Margaret. At this point, both were dead, but is still a source of much controversy. As a result, Robert returns from Seattle and attracts much attention and press. Abigail is infuriated, and threatens to reveal to Robert's white wife his true family identity. Meanwhile, Abigail's husband's career is put in jeopardy, and he lives his wife and three children to continue his pursuit for public office. Soon after Abigail's husband leaves her, she is visited by an angry mob outside her home who wreak havoc on the property. In a backlash, she and her faithful black housekeeper, Oliver, set fire to the vigilantes' cars.

It seems by the end of the story Abigail has gained a new perspective (maybe even pride?) in her interracial family. Abigail takes revenge on the city that has betrayed her and her Howland name by shutting down many major businesses around the town that her family had acquired over the years. As a result, the town enters economic hell.

This story is quite dynamic and parallels many of the stories we have read in this class. Abigail initial attitude towards blacks remind me of Manon in Property, yet it seems she evolves considering the potentially strong opinion-shaping events that take place in The Keepers of the House. Moreover, many of the stories we've read dealt with the white supremacy and the struggle for blacks to gain upward mobility, using interracial affairs and mixed origins in order to “pass-off” as white. As mentioned, this is Grau's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, which caused quite a rift in Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Segregationalists backlashed, while progressives praised. In this auspicious work, Grau highlights the hypocrisy and lunacy of the Southern racist culture.

Photograph provided by randomhouse.com

Shirley Ann Grau and the Short Story: Who says a white woman can't write about black souther culture?

Shirley Ann Grau is no stranger to controversial topics. Born and raised in the South, residing in New Orleans, she was quite aware of the racial issues swarming during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, especially below the Mason Dixon line. While her novels were primarily told though and about white Southerners of both rural and wealthy backgrounds, her short stories cross color lines into a realm few white writers have dared venture. Though a Pulitzer Prize winner, her stories have not been widely reviewed due to her relative anonymity, and Grau continues to elude her readers because, as Rohrberger notes, “for we have consistently failed to understand the complexity of her statements and the excellence of her forms (Rohrberger,1).” Despite this low-key success, Grau has received much attention and praise for her works of short fiction. Considering the time and place in which this white Southern, woman writer wrote her short stories, Shirley Ann Grau displayed great subtlety and tenacity in her ability to write through the point-of-view of both black and white characters.

Although she has written a great deal throughout her career, one can appreciate the range of her use of black and white points of view by comparing two collections of short stories spanning a thirty year divide: The Black Prince and Other Stories (1955) and Nine Women (1985). Through a critical analysis of these bold works, Grau's readers will find she has many thoughtful insights of the perspectives and perceptions of black and white culture.

There are five stories out of nine in The Black Prince and Other Stories that are told through the eyes of black characters. “White Girl, Fine Girl” is a story following the return of Jayson Paul Evans who has just been released from prison. Upon his arrival back into society, he sets out to find his ex-wife, Aggie, the reason he entered prison in the first place. Though it is not clear what he seeks in Aggie, she and her daughters (only one of which is Jayson's) do not allow him near her. After some effort, he settles for a prostitute who looks like the “Jax Poster” girl who is “white or nearly white.” This is the only instance in the story in which the reader can clearly detect the main character's race; it is in the way they talk about the girl's color, as if being “nearly white” was exotic.

In Nine Women, Grau employs a similar technique in letting on the race of the main character in “The Beginning.” The story follows a short period of time in the life of a young girl, whose mother treats her like “the jewel of the lotus, the pearl without price, [her] secret treasure (Nine Women, 5).” The story generally lacks a plot, but is rather just a memoir of a young girl whose mother enjoys “dolling” her up in fine, girly clothes, despite being the bane of the nuns in her school. Considering the fine clothing she describes, we only find out at the end that she is a young, black girl. Grau clearly concealed this information in hopes that we would assume she was white, given the character's refined nature.

Some stories, on the other hand, are not so elusive. The story “The Black Prince,” appearing in its self-titled collection, follows the progression of the relationship between Alberta Lacy and Stanley Albert Thompson. The reader is made aware of their race within the first couple of pages: “She was a handsome girl, taller than most people in her part of the country, and light brown—there had been a lot of white blood in her family...(The Black Prince and Other stories, 40).”

Yet, few of Grau's short stories actually deal with the issue of race, save “Miss Yellow Eyes,” which also appears in The Black Prince and Other Stories. This story is told through Celia, a young black girl in early adolescence with her mother, brother, and sister. Her sister, Lena, is much sought after by boys in school, but shows no interest in them until meeting her brother Pete's friend, Chris. As Chris is drafted into Vietnam to undoubtedly take the front lines because of his skin color, he heroically accepts his call to action. Moreover, he promises Lena he will return for her soon, upon which they will move to Oregon where they can “cross over” the color line. Pete, on the other hand, takes an entirely different view of the situation, as he ardently maintains that blacks are sent to war only to die for white men, and he resents Chris for his desire to be white. Saving himself from what he feels is inevitable death, Pete tries to cut off his finger to avoid the draft, but instead accidentally takes off his entire hand. He is extremely bitter over this result, and over Chris. Unfortunately, Pete's predictions are met. Chris is in fact killed in war. Upon the news of his death, the entire family is broken apart, except Pete, who can only say (and rather hysterically), “Even if you black, you good enough to get sent off to die...Chris, you a man, sure... sure... you sure cross over... (The Black Prince and Other stories, 113).”

There are two remaining stories told specifically through black characters in The Black Prince and Other Stories: “Joshua” and “The Way of a Man.” Both are sort of “coming-of-age” stories in which the two main characters, who are poor and uneducated black boys, realize what it truly means to be a man. In “The Way of a Man,” William matures into “a life of crime and debt” after being practically abandoned, emotionally and financially, by his parents (Rohrberger,1). At the end of the story, William is broke, headed to New Orleans on the run from the law. He justifies many of his poor judgments, citing what “a man's” got to do. On the other hand, Joshua is a bit younger, yet lives a relatively crime-free life. He matures on his own and becomes quite responsible for himself (much unlike his counterpart, William). Interestingly, the “initiation” of William and Joshua ensue upon their discovery of the dead, white corpses. These complete the “roster” of stories about blacks.

The story “Ending” in Nine Women takes a far less direct approach to race. The story profiles a crisis of relationships in the family of Barbara Eagleton. Upon her daughter's wedding day, Barbara and her husband decide to get a divorce. This story is not nearly as colloquial in diction as the other stories about black characters in The Black Prince and Other Stories; one is only really led to recognize the race of the characters when Barbara is cited as looking “so much like Diana Ross (Nine Women, 107).” In this story, it seems Grau is demonstrating that it is not necessary to make the story about race, even if her characters are black.

These stories have been received in many ways. Yet it is safe to say that almost every one of Grau's reviewers were often primarily interested in the way she wrote in a point of view of blacks, which was thought to be so unlike her own, being a white, Southern woman. Her ability to narrate through a situation in which she can never fully realize is indeed intriguing. For Grau, it is about the distinction between “the direct and the subtle (Rohrberger,1).” While some stories are quite cleary issues of race, others are far less clear and easy to decipher, thus pulling out distinct racial boundaries.

Not everyone is entirely convinced by her boldness in her depiction of black characters: “But, on the other hand, her southern upbringing has imposed certain limitations on her ability to endow her Negro characters with reality. Although she tries hard to enter into the minds of her Negro characters, she fails miserably (Ford, 206).” As this review was written shortly after the publication of The Black Prince and Other Stories, it seems her unique topic did not resound with everyone, as it seems to now. On the other hand, Shirley Ann Grau's own literary biographer Paul Schleuter felt differently on her ability to portray black character: “In general, the stories in this collection that are concerned with blacks are more effective than those concerned with white; the former seem imbued with a sense of mystery, with echoes of folklore and myth often emphasized (Schleuter, 107).” Schleuter feels that she handles the dialect of the rural black culture well while maintaining a very objective and indifferent point of view.

Both books contain stories of both black and white characters, though it is sometimes not certain until the end. Yet there is a clear distinction between the two collections. While many selections in The Black Prince and Other Stories are quite blatantly about black culture in the rural South, there is clearly dwindling interest in the subject by the time Nine Women is published. What may bring about this change in focus? There is no secure answer, yet it still important to note the time period in which she chose to address the topic initially. The 1950s fostered the onset of the Civil Rights Movement, and Shirley Ann Grau was no doubt a part of that.

Photograph provided by aaabooks.com

Shirley Ann Grau's visit from the KKK

Controversial writer reissued and revisited.

In this article from CNN.com, Grau tells us about her "run-ins" with the Klu Klux Klan, who attempted to burn a cross in her frontyard 4o years ago when her Pulitzer Prize winning novel Keepers of the House was published.

This work is set in Alabama and tells the story of an affluent white man and controversial 30-year love affair with his black housekeeper. Needless to say, "the Klan" was not pleased. Yet their efforts proved futile: "The men apparently forgot to bring a shovel, and couldn't drive the cross into the ground. So it burned lying flat on Grau's yard -- not a terribly intimidating sight." Grau's work has often been the source of controversy, as many of her stories showcase black & white relations in the South.

Photograph provided by CNN.com

Shirley Ann Grau: A Life's Work

List of Major Publications:

The Black Prince and Other Stories (1955)
The Hard Blue Sky (1958)
The House on Coliseum Street (1961)
The Keepers of the House (1964)
The Condor Passes (1971)
The Wind Shifting West (1973)
Evidence of Love (1977)
Nine Women (1985)
Roadwalkers (1994)

Shirley Ann Grau breaks-down racial boundaries

The World According to Grau

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor of Metroactive.com, a website highlighting news, music, arts & events in the Silicon Valley (much like NOLA.com), interviews Grau on "cross[ing] the color line" in her novels.

In her work, Grau has created much debate over a white woman's ability to accurately portray black characters. Although it seems a quite audacious attempt, her objective, even indifferent, attitude toward her characters open up boundaries that may have hindered a Southern white writer in the past. As a New Orleans native and former Alabama resident, she is no stranger to both black and white cultures, rural and affluent. The question remains: Do her characters really translate to actual life in the mid 20th century South?

Shirley Ann Grau's objective perspectives

Grau was born on July 8, 1929 in New Orleans, LA. As an adolescent she moved to Montgomery, Alabama and went to Booth (elementary) School until her high school years, when she moved back to New Orleans and attended Ursuline Academy. She continued her studies as an English major at the Newcomb College at Tulane University, graduating with the class of 1950, and later completed one year of graduate studies. Grau's original career plans were to get a Ph.D.in English and teach and write, but the university had different plans. Grau explains, “It seemed like a good idea... But, anyway the head of the department said no women would be teaching assistants in his department... Just about the time my free-lance pieces began to show. So I said, O.K., follow where the doors open.”

From these free-lance works came a well-received debut publication, The Black Prince and Other Stories (1955). A book in which most of the stories were centered around black characters was almost unheard of at the time. “When I started writing black stories," she says, "it just was not done.... And then there was a flip-flop after the 1960s, and that's all they wanted." On August 4th of that same year she married James Kern Feibleman, a Tulane professor, and with him bore two sons and two daughters: Ian James, Nora Miranda, William Leopold, and Katherine Sara.

Three years later she published The Hard Blue Sky. In this novel, Grau showcases her ability to describe nature; where critic Ann Pearson notes that even the title “indicates the dominance of the elements over the lives of the...fishermen.” The story is set on a primitive island, Isle aux Chiens, at the mouth of the Mississippi. This book does not carry a traditional plot set-up. On the other hand, Grau writes “interwoven episodes and flashbacks to dramatize a series of crises in the lives of individual islanders." Drama laden with the passions of love and sex ensue as these island citizens await the first hurricane of the season.

One could describe Grau as a “novelist of manners” in that her approach to her characters is unsentimental which allows her to exercise perfect objectivity. The House on Coliseum Street (1961) was indeed “a novel of manners.” As she often does, Grau “explores the perversion of ethics in modern society." This story of “divorce and sexual promiscuousness” is meant to criticize the moral hypocrisy of the Southern upper-class.

One of the more prominent themes in Grau's work is the interaction between whites and black in the South at a time when the two were separated by law. She is a “white author who deals with... the black subculture,” an “anomaly” of her time. Yet, unlike many novels of the genre, her black characters are not mere caricatures of servants and house maids. Rather, she writes of the deep South, where interaction between races is inevitable and almost always controversial.

Her next work would be the most famous to-date. In 1964, her novel The Keepers of the House received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. In this story, Southern white widower Bill Howland, after his late wife dies, secretly marries an African American woman, Margaret. They have three children and even more grandchildren that are “mired in racial politics." Grau achieved such noteworthy acclaim by separating herself from the usual genre of female Southern writers. Time magazine critic R. Z. Sheppard said, “...Grau has usually played to her strength—a cautious application of talent to Southern traditions and people she knows best.”

Grau followed with The Condor Passes (1971) and Evidence of Love (1977). Her most recent work is Roadwalkers, published in 1994. This story follows the life of Baby, a black girl growing up in the Depression-era South. Her journey begins by wandering the countryside for food and shelter. After a confrontation with a white land owner, she is sent to an orphanage where nun Rita Landry takes over the narration for her teen years. After leaving the orphanage at 18, Grau's books takes a bold shift to the first person in which Baby gives the account to her daughter, Nanda, who grows up with all of the privileges her mother lacked. The story ends with the despairing story of her unfortunate marriage. While the critics looked to the story with “a mixture of admiration and puzzlement," the story nevertheless adds to her collection of racially controversial, yet objective portraits of the old South.

Photograph provided by washingtonpost.com