Dorothy West was born in Boston in 1907 and died on Martha's Vineyard in 1998. Cynthia Davis is professor of English at San Jacinto College. Together, she and Dr. Mitchell have published seven books, primarily on women writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Their most recent volume is In Flaming Letters: Lucia Pitts, Poet of the Six Triple Eight. Verner D. Mitchell is professor of English at the University of Memphis and editor of This Waiting for Love: Helene Johnson, Poet of the Harlem Renaissance.

• AcknowledgmentsPreface. Toward a Reappraisal of Dorothy West's WorkIntroduction to Where the Wild Grape Grows: Second EditionIntroduction. Dorothy West and Her CircleCarolinaAt the Swan BoatsBlackberryingQuiltingPrologue to a LifeHannah BydeThe Black DressMy BabyMammyPlutoThe House Across the WayMrs. MarloweThe StairsWhere the Wild Grape GrowsWinter on Martha's VineyardElephant's Dance: A Memoir of Wallace ThurmanThe Inroads of TimeSelected LettersCooksRoom in Red SquareRussian Correspondence: A FragmentAppendix I. New York Daily News StoriesAppendix II. Family Trees

"Mitchell and Davis's volume contributes to current reappraisals of West, expanding our knowledge of her work and her personal history in order to elevate her from bit player in the Harlem Renaissance to a more significant figure in 20th century African American literature. Answering some questions and leaving others open for interpretation, this treatment of West reconfigures that frustrating gap into an invitation for further study while pointing the way towards future considerations of West and her milieu."—Rychetta N. Watkins, Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association"This collection of West's work will certainly help readers see that she did not simply 'fall silent' in the 1940s only to return to writing to complete The Wedding in the 1980s. This book enables us to see her as a more thoroughly accomplished writer. It is an important work that will lead to a serious revision of West's place in the canon of African American writers."—Joseph T. Skerrett, author of Literature, Race, and Ethnicity: Contesting American Identities"What a great idea to gather in one volume the many previously published and unpublished writings of Dorothy West! . . . This edition throws special light on West's talent and milieu, conveying a complex sense of her as a person in relationship to her family life and commitments, her artistic peers, and her intimate relationships. The editors' introduction and the biographical essay set the right tone for the project, appropriate for both the academic and the general reader."—Amritjit Singh, coeditor of The Collected Writings of Wallace Thurman: A Harlem Renaissance Reader