“So compelling it gave me goosebumps from the very first lines.”
Spanning four generations of a mixed-race family, Alison Hart’s debut novel Mostly White is a powerful tale of inter-generational trauma and the healing brought by wildness, music, and the resilience of women. The novel begins with Emma, who survives the abuse of an Indian residential school in 1890s Maine. Beaten and locked in a closet for days, Emma flees to the woods, where she meets Bird Man, an Irish bootlegger. Three generations later, aspiring actor Ella contends with her mixed-race heritage as she navigates color lines in 1980s New York City.
Throughout this sweeping and compassionate novel, Alison Hart’s unforgettable characters struggle with racism, poverty, and how to honor the call of their ancestors while forming their own identities. Mostly White unflinchingly examines facets of America’s difficult past—and the many ways this past pervades our present.
Join us for an evening with author Alison Hart as she reads from this startling novel, followed by an audience Q&A.
More about Alison Hart:
Alison Hart studied theater at New York University and later found her voice as a writer. She identifies as a mixed-race African American, Passamaquoddy Native American, Irish, Scottish, and English woman of color. Her poetry collection Temp Words was published by Cosmo Press in 2015, and her poems appear in Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2016) and elsewhere. Alison is an advocate of MISSSEY a non-profit organization dedicated to end the sexual exploitation of children. Hart lives in Alameda, California.
A percentage of ticket sales will go to Raices, a nonprofit agency that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families and refugees.