Summary

In Part III: "Heartlines (1968)," Chapter 7, the same day Desiree returned to Mallard, Stella's Palace Estates community convened for an urgent Homeowners Association meeting. The Lawsons, a black family, planned to buy the home across from Stella's family. Though everyone insisted it would never happen, Stella remained anxious. She had been passing for white for years, but feared other African Americans would see through her lie. She stood up at the meeting, insisting Palace Estates protect their families by squashing the Lawsons' purchase.

Later, Stella's husband, Black Sanders, questioned her about her surprising outspokenness. She had always been nervous around black people, but she was usually reserved. She dismissed his questions, remembering the first time she passed for white at the South Louisiana Museum of Art. When it worked, she wondered why she had not tried sooner.

Around the same time, Stella's daughter...