"Recitatif" is a story about two girls named Roberta and Twyla who are roommates at a shelter for children. Though they spent only four months together at the shelter, Roberta and Twyla encounter each other throughout their lives. Each time they meet, the women realize that how different they are from one another even though they shared a traumatic childhood experience with each other. Though the reader is told that one of the girls is Black and of the girls is white, which girl is which race is never disclosed. The reader is thus left to decipher which character is Black and which is character is white, or to decide whether or not it matters.

I think the last time I read a short story was in high school! This book had been in my radar for a while, and I’m excited to say it was my first @libby.app ebook! While concise, this story managed to be super thought provoking and tackled themes of inherited biases, the complexity of female friendships over the years, and being an outcast. Not knowing which character is Black and which character is white also challenges the reader to confront their own inherent biases and prejudices, and to perhaps conclude that perhaps we are all not so different from one of. The introduction by Zadie Smith was so well written and offered a great analysis of this short story, so I highly recommend this edition. A quick and smart read that will definitely leave you thinking afterwards, I recommend the short story!