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'Florida kitsch swirls together with magical realism in this glittering debut novel about a young Black and Indigenous woman who learns to change the color of her skin
'Gabrielle has always had a complicated relationship with her mother Tallulah, one marked by intimacy and resilience in the face of a volatile patriarch. Everything in their home has been bleached a cold white—from the cupboards filled with sheets and crockery to the food and spices Tallulah cooks with. Even Gabrielle, who inherited the ability to change the color of her skin from her mother, is told to pass into white if she doesn't want to upset her father.
'But this vital mother-daughter bond implodes when Tallulah is hospitalized for a mental health crisis. Separated from her mother for the first time in her life, Gabrielle must learn to control the temperamental shifts in her color on her own.
'Meanwhile, Gabrielle is spending a year after high school focusing on her piano lessons, an extracurricular her father is sure will make her a more appealing candidate for pre med programs. Her instructor, a queer, dark-skinned woman named Dominique, seems to encapsulate everything Gabrielle is missing in her life—creativity, confidence, and perhaps most importantly, a nurturing sense of love. Together, they plan to get Gabrielle away from her chaotic household by applying to music schools abroad.
'Following a young woman looking for a world beyond her family's carefully-coded existence, Notes on Her Color is a lushly written and haunting tale that shows how love, in its best sense, can be a liberating force from destructive origins.'(Publication summary)
Notes
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Author's note: For Natasha Lomboy, who showed me that for every lave language that exists, there is at least one person in the world who can speak it fluently.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Best of 2023 in Australian Reading
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;
— Review of Shirley 2023 single work novel ; Praiseworthy 2023 single work novel ; Search History 2023 single work novel ; Green Dot 2023 single work novel ; Songs for the Dead and the Living 2023 single work novel ; Notes on Her Colour 2023 single work novel ; Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens 2022 single work novel ; Crossing the Line 2023 single work autobiography ; Anam 2023 single work novel
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Best of 2023 in Australian Reading
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2024;
— Review of Shirley 2023 single work novel ; Praiseworthy 2023 single work novel ; Search History 2023 single work novel ; Green Dot 2023 single work novel ; Songs for the Dead and the Living 2023 single work novel ; Notes on Her Colour 2023 single work novel ; Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens 2022 single work novel ; Crossing the Line 2023 single work autobiography ; Anam 2023 single work novel