Book Review for The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander by Denny S. Bryce

 The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander  by Denny S. Bryce

Published July 23, 2024 by Kensington

Genre:  Historical Fiction

 

Taken by Goodreads:  Inspired by a real-life scandal that was shocking even for the tumultuous Roaring Twenties, this captivating novel tells the story of a pioneering Black journalist, a secret interracial marriage among the New York elite, and the sensational divorce case that ignited an explosive battle over race and class—and brought together two very different women fighting for justice, legitimacy, and the futures they risked everything to shape. From Denny S. Bryce, bestselling author of Wild Women and the Blues and In the Face of the Sun.


New York, 1924. Born to English immigrants who’ve built a comfortable life, idealistic Alice Jones longs for the kind of true love her mother and father have. She believes she’s found it with Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander, the shy heir to his prominent white family’s real estate fortune. Alice too, is “white”, though she is vaguely aware of rumors that question her ancestry—gossip her parents dismiss. But when the lovers secretly wed, Kip’s parents threaten his inheritance unless he annuls the marriage.
 
Devastated but determined, Alice faces overwhelming odds both legally and in the merciless court of public opinion. But there is one person who can either help her—or shatter her hopes for Reporter Marvel Cunningham. The proud daughter of an accomplished Black family, Marvel lives to chronicle social change and the Harlem Renaissance’s fiery creativity.
 
At first, Marvel sees Alice’s case as a tabloid sensation generated by a self-hating woman who failed to “pass.” But the deeper she investigates, the more she will recognize just how much she and Alice have in common. For Rhinelander vs. Rhinelander will bring to light stunning truths that will force both women to confront who they are, and who they can be, in a world that is all too quick to judge.

 

My Thoughts:  The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander is a story of black and white.   A woman who identifies as white marries the man of her dreams.   It comes out that she may have a DROP of black blood in her.  

The publicity that this drop causes is crazy.  The microscope that Mrs. Alice Rhinelander is put under digs into every corner of her life and her history.   She is portrayed as a gold digger and a woman lying to the world about the color of her skin.  But the truth is she is just a woman who loves her husband and wants nothing more than for them to be together.  

 Denny S. Bryce wrote a book set in the 1920’s that showed exactly how racism could change an entire relationship.   The different classes of society and how they ruled their families is also prominent in the book showing how it is all about the money for some of the families. 

 As with other books I have read by the same author, the history of this story is one that will stay with me.  I look forward to reading historical fiction, especially historical fiction that is new to me, so that I learn about an event or time that I did not know of before I read the book. 

 Thank you Kensington for a copy of the book via NetGalley

 

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Meet Denny S. Bryce (taken from her website):  I write historical fiction. Each of my novels feature a cast of courageous, flawed, and sometimes dangerous female protagonists.

My books explore the African American and/or Black experience in well-researched stories that I am proud to share as one of the Black authors worldwide telling these stories.

 

A former public relations professional, I spent more than 20 years running my marketing and public relations firm. For nearly 10 of those years, however, I wrote and read Buffy/Spike fan fiction. I am a devoted fan of genre television, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Angel (the TV series) fit the bill. These days, I am revisiting my love of classic film, jazz, and R&B (with a bit of hip-hop and rap thrown in because–why not?).

 

Before fanfiction and my days as a PR Diva, I was a professional dancer, part-time singer, and “bad” actress. I worked with professional dance companies in Chicago and New York and was cast in a theatrical production, which almost debuted off-off-off-Broadway. In college, I was a theater and dance major with a minor in history. But my love of American, European, and African history I credit to my maternal grandmother, Ella Elizabeth Joseph, who immigrated from Kingston, Jamaica, to New York City in 1923. I also must give my maternal grandfather some love, too. He was born in French Guiana and fought in the Great War (WWI) in France. In exploring my ancestry, like many African Americans, my family’s roots are in West Africa, today’s Nigeria. I am also first generation Bermudan (on my father’s side) and second-generation Jamaican (on my mother’s side).

 

I could go on and on about my family and my adventures, but those tales are part of the reason I write–I love storytelling–and I have many to write and share:)!

 

Currently, I live in Savannah, Georgia, but I’m formerly from Washington, DC., Chicago, and New York City. Yes, I’ve moved around.

 

I love to travel and like to say I’m always a toothbrush away from my next flight to the nearest beach or mountaintop.