Through the Ivory Gate

A debut novel by the 1987 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, about an artist on a journey of self-discovery—navigating a family secret, racism, and the conflict between marriage and career.

“Skillfully evokes the mood of a decade when social change seemed not only possible but imminent.” —Washington Post Book World

When a woman returns to her Midwestern hometown as an artist-in-residence to teach puppetry to schoolchildren, her homecoming also means grappling with artistic ambition, memories of rejected love, and shocking truths about her family.“Skillfully evokes the mood of a decade when social change seemed not only possible but imminent … Dove’s themes are important: she’s an immensely gifted writer.” —Washington Post Book WorldRita Dove, poet laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. She wrote the novel Through the Ivory Gate, as well as a collection of stories, a verse drama, a book of essays, and five books of poetry, among them Thomas and Beulah, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1987. The recipient of numerous literary fellowships and awards, she is the Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia and lives near Charlottesville with her husband, Fred Viebahn, and their daughter, Aviva.