What We Don't Talk About

Orville, Illinois, is a "sundown" town where Black Americans are prohibited from entering or remaining after dark. Cassie Zeul, an outcast, is an adventurous woman with no husband and takes an occasional lover. Her son, Gus, aspires to be a priest but is overwhelmed by his infatuation with Pat Lemkey. His best friend, Fenza Ryzchik Jr., hates "colored people" and is determined to convince Jenny to marry him. When a visiting nun brings an African American friend to Midnight Mass, the dreams and desires of these characters collide, and the darkness of prejudice, privilege, and power threatens to overwhelm their lives. This novel forces us to acknowledge the cost of hiding our true selves and judging others based on the color of their skin or the longing of their hearts.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 01 November 2022
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

Orville, Illinois, is a picturesque, charming, and almost Norman Rockwellesque town—if you're white. However, like many midwestern cities in the 1960s, it is a "sundown" town, a place where Black Americans are prohibited from entering or remaining after dark.

The town's most adventurous woman, Cassie Zeul, is an outcast because she has no husband and takes an occasional lover. Her son, Gus, guided by Sister Damien, aspires to be a priest, but he is increasingly overwhelmed by his infatuation with Pat Lemkey—who is herself drawn to Jenny Biel, considered by many to be the most beautiful girl in town. Gus's best friend, Fenza Ryzchik Jr., a somewhat notorious bully desperate for his father's attention, hates "colored people," doesn't think he knows any, and is certain he can convince Jenny to marry him one day—without realizing that her devout mother has been passing for white her entire life.

Events come to a head when a visiting nun from the South brings an African American friend with her to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

The dreams and desires of these characters collide and intersect as they navigate life and coming of age in the rural Midwest. In Jankos masterful hands, the darkness—of prejudice, privilege, and power—that they don't even recognize threatens to overwhelm their lives and their plans for the future. This novel forces us, as well as its characters, to acknowledge the cost of hiding our true selves and of judging others based on the color of their skin or the longing of their hearts.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780299340049