Nelson, author of a fierce, candid memoir (Volunteer Slavery
) and a steamy, funny novel (Sexual Healing
), offers an intimate look at Martha's Vineyard, where generations of African-Americans have lived, worked and played, year-round or for a summer. She provides a brief history of the African-American presence on the island, which dates back to the 1700s, and reflects on her own nearly five-decade love affair with the place. Oak Bluffs and other Vineyard resort communities, she says, became havens for African-Americans who felt "insulated from many of the racial assumptions and expectations... that at the least intruded upon and at the worst defined many of our lives off-island." Nelson lets island residents provide an oral history: Doris Pope Jackson recalls how, in 1903, her grandfather bought a summer house that soon turned into a thriving inn; Vernon Jordan reflects that for many years, "the Vineyard was the only [vacation] spot for successful black people." Others weighing in on what the Vineyard means to them include Yale law professor Stephen Carter (The Emperor of Ocean Park
) and novelist Bebe Moore Campbell. Personal and celebratory, Nelson's book is a tribute to a picturesque little island and a reminder of the importance of "a community of similar souls." Photos. (May)
