Why Did Leonard Rhinelander Turn Against the Woman He Loved?

If Leonard Rhinelander and Alice Jones had such a wonderful romance of total devotion to each other, why did Leonard sue her for fraud for pretending to be white – which he and she both knew she had never done – in order to obtain an annulment of their marriage?

Well, it’s complicated, and if I explained everything, I’d have to warn you with a HUGE spoiler-alert and give away more than any author would wish to do. Suffice it to say that Leonard knew from Rhinelander family lore what the Rhinelanders were capable of doing to any member of the family who deviated from their rarified standards. It resulted in the utter destruction of those outside the family who were involved – in this case, Alice Jones Rhinelander, his targeted wife, the woman he loved profoundly, and her family.

How much of this did Alice know? When did she hear of what Leonard’s father and the Rhinelander lawyers could do to her and her family? And if she did know, did it make the trial, Leonard’s implacable testimony of not knowing she was “mixed-race” before he married her, and what she eventually had to do in court any easier?

Not to be coy, but if you respond to this website by asking for some of the answers,

I’ll send you enough to make it worth your time.

Those questions are what Black and White and Read All Over explain and reveal. When you read the book, you get all the answers, and a lot of America besides.