'Two months before he died, the renowned literary critic Anatole Broyard called his grown children to his side to impart a secret he'd kept all their lives: he was black. ... Anatole had begun to conceal his racial identity after his family moved to Brooklyn and his parents resorted to "passing" in order to get work. ... Bliss Broyard examines her father's choices and the impact of this revelation on her own life. Seeking out unknown relatives in New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, she uncovers the 250-year history of her family in America and chronicles her own evolution from privileged Wasp to a woman of mixed-race ancestry.'--Back cover.

Includes: "Reading group guide".