Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Light Skin Gone to Waste: Stories
Light Skin Gone to Waste: Stories
Light Skin Gone to Waste: Stories
Ebook286 pages5 hours

Light Skin Gone to Waste: Stories

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

In 1962 Philip Arrington, a psychologist with a PhD from Yeshiva, arrives in the small, mostly blue-collar town of Monroe, New York, to rent a house for himself and his new wife. They’re Black, something the man about to show him the house doesn’t know. With that, we’re introduced to the Arringtons: Phil, Velma, his daughter Livia (from a previous marriage), and his youngest, Madeline, soon to be born. They’re cosmopolitan. Sophisticated. They’re also troubled, arrogant, and throughout the linked stories, falling apart.

We follow the family as Phil begins his private practice, as Velma opens her antiques shop, and as they buy new homes, collect art, go skiing, and have overseas adventures. It seems they’ve made it in the white world. However, young Maddie, one of the only Black children in town, bears the brunt of the racism and the invisible barriers her family’s money, education, and determination can’t free her from. As she grows up and realizes her father is sleeping with white women, her mother is violently mercurial, and her half-sister resents her, Maddie must decide who she is despite, or perhaps precisely because of, her family.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 15, 2022
ISBN9780820363073
Author

Toni Ann Johnson

TONI ANN JOHNSON is the author of Homegoing, a novella, and the novel Remedy for a Broken Angel, which earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Literary Work by a Debut Author. She is a two- time winner of the Humanitas Prize for her screenplays Ruby Bridges, for Disney, and Crown Heights, for Showtime Television. Johnson’s essays and short fiction have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Hunger Mountain, Callaloo, and many other publications. She lives in Los Angeles.

Read more from Toni Ann Johnson

Related to Light Skin Gone to Waste

Titles in the series (63)

View More

Related ebooks

Short Stories For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Light Skin Gone to Waste

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

2 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Light Skin Gone to Waste - Toni Ann Johnson

    KOcbook_preview_excerpt.html|ےƖ`qNY-(ITnIVqLCHpH8>/ )YkLd=VD"s羬aCv 7UB1d{7>?oWm,lw㟇?~gmC]]_d[ }Wc,~~:{ch ~ e;j[x_*0K,'wzqh|Z0Cَe5dykog]o0 !M] /̾]eU׫?Ow[A?9>z0\d"{yV].l*7 mb&˱>ӯ$k E{ d0^1ā4*z|5TCR!{-u0ֻ0ɰ\]:8\E\6a䔞zٝ:UӮʾSߺ{7bc)`C_[kw^c\Ҹڵz}볷df/vFwI2ݭ?]2Au8VIC)] n~Zoo m~_ o_LZYu:*{_W$1.}^8o2fː]Ov,Cv877٫C_僶wn5d5k{p ?cUgW?_s#Rװq55 U5C.!*w/ٿMm*M/|G6i:>sM'?(|;zKxgeÐzꀵE]kRoҗ~B=;{Yj)}0YA[WPcFoh{] 7igY=JT!3Ik} ԻMUGBld8D >.iUֺ"Џ~:~utOjjuU654Mօn]Vy"Ǒܢ;F DuK?_}e?{韟χ'=tqΆ9AY轓TzYWZF;ms||?|w5k*{x37/Q_f,2؏ 88#_f8 gȮ=_aOw?l7݃En 0WϞo_|~&oGxgEn\~׏ox_g71m~j/{ee<` xmv%{{1>ЏW}jϲ<1X}4O=Gs45XrO>󼽨C~ ,V FA|{ ̲;@Y17WS~s8`kW z|?ag?ϠOOٗ'G8re~ӆ}]E9'q{`9؃)>R>n,BTsoTf/'&A]pY>!d-3@=/כzB(PcW)f6Zi$V 40 Eͷ8WxP4Y) \AgPx!Gqc2ۇP'UwhFxV!buH EAcE]N>ьJkƿ.`fcp۪#sjܮ6?FȨi3(uKGaeCl$3 5,|Yk9xY65F@#ô[-^:f=huW[xRe5u<ɐbx8GVpz #BV&Mc0ؘ|{\T0~-v*RĐ,_#|;==ꡩ L.؁rv"]cmy2;mxصb]bٞ= OPL|nj?i;f )cnG+E0n*N\T5?z ]hTtetM"ݘ#oɑ|;"\O DA=>{`/?u\'^)hk;A7HI *Fהnf^R`3 ^t˿iK\?a_aShpܢvj2D3 u:r_s“;!DڨӱU7"6>kawdc3@x MdΌ &HYC?^mYVXiXb(*<>LLdC[PR8P R1p Og2wHiF|#aR O9-*fۢJSЦ,a6ޒ#%-FR`0(í \7.-gCj9#C "! {**1 hFDus\Xa)"LTt0yN[]Y"R1|ZEo~C !> *8DeC+1ZB*p1*CD$'yƙ2N;sU^|e`6raDzbLgVfT)LNy/OU{oQkcR`&vɗkֈ&TnJ3~bi! ,ƄiZ=,D_m>ej'iـoE/?O}\<&X:pH##8`]"ɱ/@X}A9.B ~syˢ )l;L0Y --eSp>.竌N(81Bt!W rTa*WCUyKAv` 4d6ry CDf$Qˇ&4Nb_"#RI@7SO gnQEsYC\Y@Qhmu fNE:QWr?-}׸"oW~ty;6faVR1yj١(P%ǐ:օF'z,Mqh9L!|v 5 j Xk;.*Sn&= X'.*c]'Xzj:N`HPRbl2 !-9oĈH @=^# H}JxxnbA GQӠ@U,}OwDִQve90#ߟWi/ۂkayYBAKL| ҿ>ts%0]+`Yz *2F&{aLœkp)Zm"U0ajT0}wT_#)cj apR7'3bn-B6ͼP1v[4A,kLBܯ9'U"Ga@rD:OTLeЂ6SVpAޢ]䙡B4VJTuHS'@OVO`kBu8ͮX^yf+SNu?9ŜDL(o=vJoe{N~2s˺HFi5{h>%,6FAڰqʗp?E֏Z9iP$|;pV{O١p"@) xmMVZكEO9NEcya91 89TxLsWdz9!cA/{bS;a g9Q~N?Eփ92r70H#!WRCQ$]P/Ac?WF7p7 YYa$ xiąɈZ-S\q|7u?\H-7BTӠKZcMs'ΫA`^h V۽tm`/SzYRЬl'hb 8#@KȾ K$ ՄRt䒷}E|nǍ5F|y\ILP1/!lXŔ;BM@c2a>@q?Աvf)郯lLaw}@.}mԓ9/ʂh, bV4ST;crl\י6f̈e"v-)cko+XܫzV?Ko.k0K,IiUo7J%b\uxHۈX'fPXΩw"iUɍ0J%ӠY1ڡAomXCRs#O*P='z{`LYco5 0;ܕƦl5[Ȫ7uV;@a*/x$'Ă' Hp" J/TQ\kbyV[U[VRtW}[au8W]mInl7'}DZ RKnxF29"9Iuđpzc}lYt=)= :?q~SQ?G$&OK ]eLZ '1y[*Ǩ&qFwc*7H1b1MD2i6[)+!טJLX[,aeF-lj-E3_jA3ms!S\[FKw{R;czEd`[!E5}ˎɑ3/_QYذf`Q԰!N1Nf./FF8raRlr-b 侌@WXyL怜Hw<5o*f]zcH9;y0hvG՚aNh)]Le*-AQvGc:+/&&i/aihԫV]daK!i YBQg$|Y~&msjR=fF|E#쓲os)m^>Py:-2_:!(Me)-]6uui]dZլg&nMc3ڴKx\BrID^1?$]˳FOjϥmB`KC!k5 g1NJ3"K>(J0V $!}9c=.֒o*6 Z(*9+ƥ) tF@]dCղIjǭME\|[ū{ -pRۘdݖċźp_i%|֬2MAOzFcFNBw7[{LSV#4XSsև10ʦK':wZPGb )\=+Uv_%[ eg`|Hk|t3oAWz:ױ_h5;aIb+a0ΆdQ*CǴ9Fw=ñWqk= HKbP%V"񺚍tfB΍h-”86JzX8+As9cQ} $+3Pg28Dr-"TZgŜF6>VܕЗ¥p˟lÈCNe s[ `=_e5džy٩iNDV%;!eCnW+y+3GL[勣K1h1gK;"F%H3ʳ_/V/2ulE,fIBTP VgUvO3IVe3y+g`ΨdDQE:'a4c >zHX EsVd-d\#-}5&Ɠ|DfKs>jS3OYZŅb|HZ _Frfׇ"7) f ث6سYޟol1ǴP>εYvn2`z9vdS'p {;컫'̀ŕc"Awf/#=FSu78`& i Z_*t#F5f,SI* 'ӎv:gA&Dv)ice;$@.%TQOWRR/'SQn,)zXciN1-"%u7rө!2tdA;|=^7az.76v0[x8 R3]M5qmkMnY(=@Iw*Z}D3[7aͫTPy˞>uT2ix$ޕŻؕ/9DNHZ쪘~XFJ]YzoeKL?+]Ͼ`m>(|c7ٺ6$;L[lEH&wo5'{Hd63#e1]Bd<Sݶ+ln^5'-hu=ʝA̶h3Kht~+38յzئ+;{xعqeQOjA>:cbDB!X/KztRigQ3Yܕl92'`[?QDWg:黽v+úq=CKAD\muKP1d쮋\ֳKZƪ8zmc-SegGPrtmβ8/xjȢBɊ혮nZDJt=Χ`u5Rd\7!:!ޓahzU&loźEc[J"6TCQx-Ή~,|[TΉxk沟/2^Y'E#b<+f.ӉO ]%g텱YԵ*ȸX7w|ڸ"?a5suځdJ36Ez-3soGblR]ÈQ`[)?݇sbQ3sMR[=n_-oم$agF5(/OX@T]1Vnl$OLB'e1xݴ:[%jWX)XXZ P `nBS۫TAXt=)Ļ\) [:_bډJg/ mRC:p<^3u%Fqx^YVEtSqT1XHc[r k#鷅(=6> уgkI̋Y^,ȗH)׹xMxSr 3x"69Hw]
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1