Caucasia: A Novel by Danzy Senna

By Danzy Senna

In Caucasia—Danzy Senna's notable debut novel and national bestseller—Birdie and Cole are the daughters of a black father and a white mom, intellectuals and activists within the Civil Rights stream in Nineteen Seventies Boston. The sisters are so shut that they have got created a personal language, but to the skin global they can't be sisters: Birdie seems to be white, whereas Cole is darkish adequate to slot in with the opposite young children on the Afrocentric institution they attend. For Birdie, Cole is the reflect during which she will see her personal blackness.

Then their parents' marriage falls aside. Their father's new black female friend won't even examine Birdie, whereas their mom provides her existence over to the circulation: at evening the sisters watch mysterious males arrive with bundles formed like rifles.

One evening Birdie watches her father and his female friend force away with Cole—they have long gone to Brazil, she's going to later examine, the place her father hopes for a racial equality he'll by no means locate within the States. the following morning—in the idea that the Feds are after them—Birdie and her mom depart every little thing in the back of: their apartment and possessions, their buddies, and—most tense of all—their identification. Passing because the daughter and spouse of a deceased Jewish professor, Birdie and her mom eventually make their domestic in New Hampshire. wanting to locate Cole, but frightened of betraying her mom and herself to a couple unknown risk, Birdie needs to learn how to navigate the white world—so that once she units off looking for her sister, she is prepared for what she's going to locate. straight away a strong coming-of-age tale and a groundbreaking paintings on id and race in the USA, "Caucasia merits to be learn all over" (Glamour).

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Unfortunately, your legal expenses will be just as high if your spouse's lawyer takes control and your lawyer simply reacts. And if both spouses' lawyers fail to take control, the case will develop a life of its own, resulting in enormous fees being paid by both spouses to lawyers who do nothing but mechanically follow procedures and never take stock of their clients' goals and objectives. Does this sound overly grim? Are you comforting yourself with the belief that lawyers must do a good job because Page XIII they passed the bar exam?

No matter which side of the issue you are on, no matter what your gender, race, sexual preference, or religion, once you become embroiled in a divorce or custody battle, you are entering a minefield of lawyers and judges who could not care less that your life and your children's lives have been turned upside down. Just as lawyers are expected to do, your spouse's lawyer will drag you through the mud, invade your privacy, and threaten to take your home, your children, your car, your clothes, your retirement money, and your savings.

If you don't, your spouse may misread you and set an adversarial tone. Once that happens, both of you could waste a lot of time and money getting back onto a nonadversarial footing. On the other hand, if your spouse has been bullying you for years and you have consistently given in, now may be the time to make the statement that you aren't giving in anymore. Have your lawyer set that tone from the outset. Remember: the more bullying you accept, the more you Page 25 will be expected to accept. Let your spouse know, through your lawyer's actions, that you intend to be in control now.

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