Title: No crystal stair
First published: 1984
Description: In this revised edition, Gloria Wade-Gayles analyzes selected novels by such writers as Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Ann Petry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Dorothy West, and Gayl Jones to offer a fresh vision of the roles - and burdens - of black women in contemporary culture.

Contending that black women are "twice burdened" and "doubly invisible" because of their race and gender. Wade-Gayles pulls us into the lives of these fascinating characters to reveal black women as they really are - struggling against isolation, alienation, loneliness, and victimization, all the while seeking wider horizons for their people and space for themselves as persons with aspirations and dreams.

No Crystal Stair is a celebration of black women writers and their collective vision of the human condition.
Subjects: History and criticism, American fiction, African American authors, Race relations in literature, Intellectual life, Sex role in literature, African American women, African American women in literature, Women authors, Women and literature, African Americans in literature, Race Relations, African Continental Ancestry Group, Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer, Geschichte (1946-1976), Roman, Historia y crítica, History, Frauenliteratur, Literature, Mujeres como autoras, Relaciones raciales en la literatura, Novela americana, Papel de los en la literatura Sexos, Mujeres afro americanas en la literatura, Weibliche Schwarze, Schwarze Frau, Blacks
Places: United States
Time periods: 20th century