One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life

I invited my female cousins over on Sunday for lunch, relaxation, a few margarita's and few laughs. There should have been around 6 or more of us sitting out lazing in the sun but instead we had a house full of 20 or more people. It was tons of fun and during light conversation my uncle brought up a book he'd just read.

It was called One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life--A Story of Race and Family Secrets by Bliss Broyard and it sounds like a very intriguing read, due out in September. Here's the books description curtesy of Amazon as they were the only ones who gave a clear synopsis.

Book Description
Two months before he died of cancer, renowned literary critic Anatole Broyard called his grown son and daughter to his side, intending to reveal a secret he had kept all their lives and most of his own: he was black. But even as he lay dying, the truth was too difficult for him to share, and it was his wife who told Bliss that her WASPy, privileged Connecticut childhood had come at a price. Ever since his own parents, New Orleans Creoles, had moved to Brooklyn and began to "pass" in order to get work, Anatole had learned to conceal his racial identity. As he grew older and entered the ranks of the New York literary elite, he maintained the façade. Now his daughter Bliss tries to make sense of his choices and the impact of this revelation on her own life. She searches out the family she never knew in New York and New Orleans , and considers the profound consequences of racial identity. With unsparing candor and nuanced insight, Broyard chronicles her evolution from sheltered WASP to a woman of mixed race ancestry.

I can't imagine finding out your not who you thought you were. I don't know what I'd feel or do. I've always been fascinated by genealogy so this is a must read for me. I read The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride and that book was an excellent read. Side note I do find it fascinating how they pick the book cover depending on the country. The following three covers are all for the same book. The first cover is the book I read, though I would have been more drawn to the book had I had the second cover and I probably wouldn't have picked it up without recommendation had I had the third cover: