The Color of WaterThe Color of Water

Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her twelve children. James McBride, journalist, musician and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful memoir.
This volume is the autobiography of the author, first published in 1995; it is also a tribute to his mother. The chapters alternate between the author's descriptions of his early life and first-person accounts of his mother Ruth's life, mostly taking place before her son was born. The author depicts the conflicting emotions that he endured as he struggled to discover who he truly was, as his mother narrates the hardships that she had to overcome as a white, Jewish woman who chose to marry a black man in 1942.