The gilded years
(Large Print)

Anita Hemmings always longed to attend Vassar College, the countrys most exclusive school for women. Now, a bright, beautiful senior in the class of 1897, she is hiding a secret: with her olive complexion and dark hair, this daughter of a janitor and descendant of slaves has successfully passed as white. When Anita finds herself rooming with Louise "Lottie" Taylor, the scion of one of New Yorks most prominent families, the two become fast friends. Anita learns what it's like to be treated as a wealthy, educated white woman, and even finds herself in a heady romance with a moneyed Harvard student. But when Lottie becomes infatuated with Anita's brother, Frederick, whose skin is almost as light as his sisters, the situation becomes perilous.