The Fall of Rome (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780743227216)

Latin instructor Jerome Washington is a man out of place. The lone African-American teacher at the Chelsea School, an elite all-boys boarding school in Connecticut, he has spent nearly two decades trying not to appear too "racial." So he is unnerved when Rashid Bryson, a promising black inner-city student who is new to the school, seeks Washington as a potential ally against Chelsea's citadel of white privilege. Preferring not to align himself with Bryson, Washington rejects the boy's friendship. Surprised and dismayed by Washington's response, Bryson turns instead to Jana Hansen, a middle-aged white divorc馥 who is also new to the school -- and who has her own reasons for becoming involved in the lives of both Bryson and Washington.
Southgate makes her debut as a writer to watch in this compelling, provocative tale of how race and class ensnare Hansen, Washington, and Bryson as they journey toward an inevitable and ultimately tragic confrontation.

Author: Martha Southgate
ISBN-10: 0743227212
ISBN-13: 9780743227216
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
Language: English
Published: 12/31/2002
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.42lbs
Size: 7.88h x 6.28w x 0.49d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 03/02/2003 pg. 28
Booklist 04/01/2003 pg. 1388