The Alchemy of Noise by Lorraine Devon Wilke

I still haven't gotten my copy of "American Dirt" from the library but while listening to a heated yet thoughtful discussion of the novel's cultural appropriation controversy on NPR last month https://www.npr.org/2020/01/27/800092442/what-the-controversy-over-american-dirt-tells-us-about-publishing-and-authorship I was introduced to "The Alchemy of Noise," a fabulous title by the way, by Lorraine Devon Wilke.

Ms. Wilke was being interviewed because she is a white author who wrote a novel featuring a strong black male character. She spoke of the difficulty she encountered when shopping for an agent. It seems no one wants to touch any book in these troubled times that appears "racially problematic." Kudos to She

Writes Press for publishing this sensitively written novel about an interracial couple in present day Chicago, authentic because it's based upon Wilke's own experiences during a long-term interracial relationship.

I loved these characters, Sidonie Frame, manager of an event space that hosts all the parties where Chicago's movers and shakers go to see and be seen, and Chris Hawkins, owner of the sound company Sidonie hires to ensure that every speech given, every band performing, and every DJ spinning in her venue sound perfect.

I loved watching their slow dance, circling eachother but wary of acknowledging the attraction, not because she is white and he is black but because she is his boss. When they do fall full on in love they remain circumspect about showing their affection at work but it's not long before racial profiling rears its ugly head, first through small microaggressions and then through a terrifying, violent encounter with the police based upon a case of mistaken identity. Before long both their jobs will be in jeopardy.

Unless you've been there as I have been for over fifteen years now, I don't believe a white reader can remotely imagine how spot on Wilke's depiction of every day life in Chris Hawkins' shoes is. Arriving at Sidonie's club for his first day of work he's taken for a cab driver. Walking in the evening in Sidonie's neighborhood he's stopped by the police who question his presence. As he hefts  a new TV up the front steps of their home a nosy neighbor turns him in for burglary. 

These daily insults to a man's basic humanity can destroy the soul and we watch the toll they take on Chris and by default on Sidonie. Especially fraught and stomach churning is a scene we see oh too often on the evening news in which their car is pulled over for no discernible reason, Sidonie  trembling as she observes the oft-practiced slow breathing tecnique Chris employs to keep from losing it.

A realistic secondary plot involves Chris's volatile sister Vanessa, a black lives matter activist whose justified anger and passion at the injustice she witnesses every day, follow her home imperiling her marriage. Then there's Sidonie's mom, recently widowed and dating a man whose prejudices result in a rift with her own daughter.

This novel, called a lesson in Racisim 101, is a devastating look at at a love affair buffeted by the daily indignities suffered by blacks in America and the naive danger imposed upon those of us with a white privilege we neither acknowdege nor earn. I did not want it to end because I did not want it to end badly. In fact, my only criticism is that Wilke ultimately holds out more hope for the future than I can currently summon.