New England White

The novel is set in 2003, in the fictional New England university town of Elm Harbor. The main protagonist is Julia Veazie Carlyle, a deputy dean in the divinity department of the local university (a thinly-veiled and unnamed version of Yale University). Her husband, Lemaster Carlyle, a Barbadian immigrant,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/193581206/|title=Thriller among the black elite lacks polish|last=Woods|first=Paula L.|authorlink=Paula L. Woods|date=June 27, 2007|work=The Los Angeles Times|page=59|accessdate=April 19, 2018}} is a former law professor and now president of the university.{{cite web|url=https://www.januarymagazine.com/crfiction/newenglandwhite.html|title=Review: New England White|last=Leach|first=Diane|date=August 2008|work=January Magazine|accessdate=April 17, 2018}} The Carlyles live with their two daughters in the small town of Tyler’s Landing, which has a population of 3,000, of which only five families, including the Carlyles, are African-American; Carter describes it as the "heart of whiteness".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/200931531/|title=In Second Novel, Law Professor Sets a Thriller on Campus|last=Schaffer|first=Michael D.|date=July 26, 2007|work=Philadelphia Inquirer|pages=E01, E03|accessdate=April 19, 2018}} Both Carlyles are members of secret clubs – Julia is a member of the Ladybugs,{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/06/28/new-england-white-explores-shades-of-elitism-and-murder/2468235/|title='New England White' explores shades of elitism and murder|last=Donahue|first=Deirdre|date=July 4, 2007|work=USA Today|accessdate=April 19, 2018}} and Lemaster is a member of the Empyreals (described as a black Skull and Bones).

A former lover of Julia's, an economics professor named Kellen Zant, goes missing.{{cite web|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2007/07/15/a_murder_mystery_told_in_black_and_white/|title=A murder mystery told in black and white|last=Martin|first=William|date=July 15, 2007|work=Boston Globe|accessdate=April 11, 2018}} The Carlyles discover Zant's body, shot twice in the head and hidden on a back road, when their car spins out of control in icy conditions.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/books/review/Benfey.html|title=The Talented Tenth|last=Benfey|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Benfey|date=July 8, 2007|work=New York Times|accessdate=April 11, 2018}} Lemaster tries to keep the murder quiet, but Julia begins to looks more closely into the circumstances.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/250647190/|title=Ivory tower intrigue|last=Freeman|first=John|authorlink=John Freeman (author)|date=July 22, 2007|work=Star Tribune|page=F12|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

As the murder of Zant is investigated by a campus detective and army veteran named Bruce Vallely, a link is found to a young girl named Gina Joule, who was raped and drowned in the early 1970s. The presumed murderer, a young black man named DeShaun Moton, was shot by the police before he could be arrested and questioned, and as Vallely and Julia dig into the trail of evidence it becomes clear that Zant had uncovered evidence that Gina Joule was actually killed after getting into an expensive Jaguar owned by Jonathan "Jock" Hilliman, a member of the wealthy Hilliman family, and a friend of Lemaster's in university. Along with Hilliman and Lemaster Carlyle, the other two members of the group of friends were Malcolm Whisted, a United States senator now running for the presidency, and a man referred to only by his nickname, "Scrunchy", who is the current President of the United States of America.{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2007/06/race_and_power.html|title=Race and Power|last=Bernard|first=Emily|authorlink=Emily Bernard|date=June 19, 2007|publisher=Slate.com|accessdate=April 11, 2018}} Although Jock Hilliman died in the 30 years between then and now, it seems that Zant was killed to prevent the truth being unveiled.

File:Stephen L. Carter - 2015 National Book Festival (2).jpg in 2015]]

Following a fierce bidding war in early 2001 between American publishers Knopf, sister publisher Random House, and others,{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/2001/03/02/between-lines-74/|title=Between The Lines|last=EW Staff|date=March 2, 2001|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|accessdate=February 21, 2018|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221222427/http://ew.com/article/2001/03/02/between-lines-74/|archivedate=February 21, 2018}} Carter was given one of the largest advances ever received by a first-time author of fiction from Knopf for the rights to publish his first two books, of $4.2 million, which included any adaptation rights. The first book, The Emperor of Ocean Park, was released in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=2050062|title=Stephen L. Carter: The Emperor of Ocean Park|last=Thomson|first=Margie|date=July 3, 2002|work=New Zealand Herald|accessdate=February 19, 2018}}

Carter noted that the text of New England White contained a number of homages to various writers, including one to Ralph Ellison.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} As a professor of Law at Yale University, Carter's background in law and academia is reflected heavily throughout the book.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/181819258/|title=Campus elite|last=Beattie|first=L. Elisabeth|date=June 23, 2007|work=The Courier-Journal|page=A13|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

Despite writing the novel using what was ostensibly a simple murder-mystery (or even a "potboiler") structure, Carter shied away from straightforward trope characters, believing that all the characters should be complex, and their motives should not be all entirely straightforward or pure.

The hardcover version of New England White was released in the United States on June 26, 2007, published by Knopf, a division of Random House. An initial run of 300,000 copies was printed. The paperback was released in the US on May 27, 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/24848/new-england-white-by-stephen-l-carter/9780375712913/|title=New England White|publisher=Penguin Random House|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

A 22.5-hour-long audiobook version was released in July 2007, narrated by Bahni Turpin; one reviewer felt that while Turpin's performance reflecting Julia Carlyle's viewpoint was praised, the complexity of much of the passages led to the conclusion that it was better experienced in book form; an abridged 7-hour version was also released, again read by Turpin, which was better received.{{cite journal|date=September 24, 2007|title=New England White|journal=Publishers Weekly|publisher=General OneFile|page=68|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A169459866/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=c30486b8|accessdate=April 18, 2018}}

The Carlyles were minor characters in Carter's previous novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park. As in The Emperor of Ocean Park, Carter draws much attention to the topic of race, and how it influences power and privilege. Word games play a prominent part in the narrative,{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/stephen-l-carter-new-england-white-1798202913|title=Stephen L. Carter: New England White|last=Murray|first=Noel|date=August 16, 2007|publisher=The A.V. Club|access-date=April 17, 2018}} and these, along with various economic theories form a framing device between chapters and sections of the novel, much like chess theory was used in The Emperor of Ocean Park.{{cite book|last=Crafton|first=Robert E.|title=The African American Experience in Crime Fiction: A Critical Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gPXeCQAAQBAJ|accessdate=April 17, 2018|year=2015|website=McFarland|isbn=978-0786499380|page=173|chapter=7 – Our Kind of People|publisher=McFarland }}

The evolution of Julia Carlyle's personality through the course of the novel is seen as significant, with the "compliant and weak" character at the start becoming stronger, and solving the mystery.{{cite web|url=http://www.curledup.com/newwhite.htm|title=Book review: New England White|last=Runyon|first=Wendy|year=2007|publisher=Curled Up With A Good Book|accessdate=April 18, 2018}} In an interview with John Freeman, Carter said that "Julia was raised a certain way, with a certain understanding of what's important, and all her life has been kicking against the strictures that have been placed on her".{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/243783562/|title=Master Mixer of Elitism, Murder|last=Freeman|first=John|authorlink=John Freeman (author)|date=July 15, 2007|work=Hartford Courant|pages=G03, G06|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

Writing for Books & Culture, Gerald L. Early discussed the frequent reprisals of the racial themes Carter referenced in his previous work, particularly around the relatively unusual literary setting (for a mainstream novel) in the world of privileged black people, drawing parallels with the work of W. E. B. Du Bois around the concept of a "Talented Tenth" – an elite leadership class of African-Americans.{{cite web|url=http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/webexclusives/2007/july/070702.html?paging=off|title=Secrets of the Talented Tenth Revealed|last=Early|first=Gerald L.|authorlink=Gerald Early|year=2007|work=Books & Culture|publisher=Christianity Today|accessdate=April 18, 2018}} The book uses the style of genre fiction to raise many of Carter's views on race, and in particular the differences between what he calls the 'paler nation' and the 'darker nation'.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/234578466/|title=Whiteout|last=Winslow|first=Art|date=June 30, 2007|work=Chicago Tribune|pages=5–9|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

Much of the literary reception for New England White focused on comparisons to The Emperor of Ocean Park. Writing for The New Yorker, Joyce Carol Oates said that the novel lacked the "vigor, intensity, and air of authenticity of its predecessor", and noted that the chief protagonist, Julia Carlyle, was less effective as a narrator due to her lack of resentment when compared to Tal Garland, the narrator of The Emperor of Ocean Park. She described the character of Kellen Zant as having "so little gravitas that the quest to find his murderer lacks urgency", and also criticized the ending of the novel, which she found improbable.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/07/02/his-dark-materials|title=His Dark Materials|last=Oates|first=Joyce Carol|authorlink=Joyce Carol Oates|date=July 2, 2007|magazine=The New Yorker|accessdate=April 17, 2018}} The ending of the book was criticized somewhat, with one critic likening it to a "bad 24 episode", with each of the closing chapters ending in cliffhangers,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/249975513/|title='White' dissects race and murder in a college town|last=Ogle|first=Connie|date=July 22, 2007|work=Tallahassee Democrat|page=40|accessdate=April 19, 2018}} and another noting that the previously genteel Julia Carlyle suddenly ends up in a shoot-out.{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/new-england-white-by-stephen-l-carter1-2496218631.html|title=New England White by Stephen L. Carter|last=Kane|first=Eugene|date=August 6, 2007|publisher=PopMatters|accessdate=April 19, 2018}}

January Magazine also compared New England White to its predecessor, but more positively, and particularly praised Carter's skill with coming up with realistic and inventive names for his characters, bringing life to the communities he describes, drawing parallels with Stephen King. It was noted that the basic plot of New England White mirrors that of The Emperor of Ocean Park – a suspicious death occurs, a cryptic clue is revealed which points to a document that could unveil the truth behind the death, and a hotly-contested race to decode the clue(s) takes place; it was further noted that this plot structure is repeated in Carter's next two works, Palace Council and Jericho's Fall. In a review for the African-American Literature Book Club, critic Kam Williams noted the improvement in Carter's writing in New England White, with a reduction in the excessive verbiage which Williams felt was an issue in The Emperor of Ocean Park.{{cite web|url=https://aalbc.com/books/bookreview.php?isbn13=9780375413629|title=Book Review of New England White|last=Williams|first=Kam|authorlink=Kam Williams|date=July 2007|publisher=African-American Literature Book Club|accessdate=April 18, 2018}}

Kirkus Reviews described the novel as a "beefy, neatly constructed melodrama which distributes clues and juggles suspects with Grisham-like energy and efficiency" and stated that "Carter strikes again".{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephen-l-carter/new-england-white/|title=New England White: Kirkus Review|date=June 1, 2007|work=Kirkus Reviews|accessdate=April 17, 2018}} Trade magazine Publishers Weekly predicted that the book would be another bestseller, due to the "richness of [Carter's] characters, both major and minor, and the intelligence of his writing".{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-375-41362-9|title=Fiction Book Review|date=May 7, 2007|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=April 17, 2018}}

Awards:

• 2008 BCALA Literary Award, from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association{{cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2008/january2008/bcala08|title=BCALA announces the 2008 Literary Awards Winners|last=White|first=Joel W.|date=January 14, 2008|publisher=Black Caucus of the American Library Association|accessdate=April 18, 2018}}

Nominations:

• 2008 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Fiction{{cite web|url=http://www.naacp.org/latest/list-of-naacp-image-awards-winners/|title=List of NAACP Image Awards Winners|date=February 14, 2008|publisher=NAACP|accessdate=April 18, 2018}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/24848/new-england-white-by-stephen-l-carter/9780375712913/readers-guide/ Reader's Guide to New England White] - Penguin Publishing

Category:2007 American novels

Category:African-American novels

Category:Alfred A. Knopf books

Category:American mystery novels

Category:American thriller novels

Category:Legal thriller novels

Category:Novels set in New England

Category:Novels set in courtrooms

Category:Works by Stephen L. Carter