THE WEDDING by Dorothy West (Anchor:...

THE WEDDING by Dorothy West (Anchor: $9.95; 240 pp.). Born in 1907, Dorothy West was an influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance. “The Wedding,” which appeared in 1995, reveals her ongoing strength as a writer. She effortlessly spans generations to recount the saga of the Coles family, the leaders of a well-to-do African American community who vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. When Shelby, the youngest Coles daughter, prepares to marry a white jazz musician, her relatives use their love as a test for racial attitudes. As the story quietly builds to a climax, Shelby realizes: “Color was a false distinction; love was not.”