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Blanche on the Lam
AuthorBarbara Neely
LanguageEnglish
GenreDetective fiction
PublisherSt. Martin's Press
Publication date
1992
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages180 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN0-312-06908-1
Followed byBlanche among the Talented Tenth 

Blanche on the Lam is a mystery novel by author Barbara Neely.[1] The book won the Agatha Award and the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery.[2] The series continues with Blanche among the Talented Tenth (1994), Blanche Cleans Up (1998), and Blanche Passes Go (2000).[3]

Background

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Plot Summary

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Characters

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Major Characters

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Blanche White: She is the central character on Blanche on the Lam. She is a black woman, who is a housekeeper and cook, on the run from a jail term for a minor offense. She hides out as a domestic worker for a dysfunctional white family. According to Mildred Mickle, Blanche is "a domestic heroine, a very human, compassionate, and honest yet tricky figure."

Minor Characters

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Genres

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Style

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Themes

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Critical reception

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According to Elsie Washington in a review for Essence, the novel is considered "the first mystery by a black woman with a Black woman as the heroine".[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Neely, Barbara. Blanche on the Lam. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.
  2. ^ Bertens, Hans, D'haen, Theo. (2001). "Introduction". Contemporary American Crime Fiction. Palgrave.
  3. ^ "Barbara Neely." (2003).Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale. Literature Resource Center.
  4. ^ Washington, Elsie. (1992). "Book marks". Essence. 22 (12), 54. ISSN 00140880 Parameter error in {{issn}}: Invalid ISSN.

Further reading

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  • Bailey, Frankie Y. (1999). "Blanche on the Lam, Or The Invisible Woman Speaks" In Kathleen Gregory Klein (Ed.), Diversity and Detective Fiction (pp. 186-204). Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 0-87972-795-0.
  • Champlin, Charles. (1992, March 8). Los Angeles Times Book Review, 8.
  • Collette, Ann. (2000). "Damn, She Done It". Ms. Magazine.
  • Harris, Trudier. (1992). "Neely, Barbara. Blanche on the Lam." Obsidian II 7.1-2, 143.
  • Hathaway, Rosemary V. (2005). "The Signifyin(g) Detective: BarbaraNeely's Blanche White, Undercover in Plain Sight". Critique. 46 (4), 320-332. ISSN 00111619 Parameter error in {{issn}}: Invalid ISSN.
  • Kirkus Reviews. (1991, December 15), 1560-1561.
  • Mickle, Mildred. (2007). "A cleansing construction: Blanche White as domestic heroine in Barbara Neely's Blanche on the Lam." Obsidian: Literature in the African Diaspora. 8 (1), 73.
  • Publishers Weekly. (1992, January 20), 50.
  • Wesson, Mimi. (1995). "Blanche on the Lam". The Women's Review of Books. 12 (4), 22.