28 pages • 56 minutes read
Mildred D. TaylorThe Gold Cadillac
Fiction | Novella | Middle Grade | Published in 1987A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Author’s NoteChapter Summaries & Analyses
Author’s Note Summary
In the author’s note, Mildred D. Taylor describes several core childhood memories that are reflected intentionally in The Gold Cadillac. Among these are the experience of growing up in a neighborhood surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins. Taylor also describes the kinds of outings included in the novella such as ’lois’s family traveling in “a caravan out to the park” (45). Critically, Taylor also notes that as a child she remembers driving South; though she doesn’t provide specifics, it seems likely she is referencing the kinds of memories that are documented in The Gold Cadillac.
Author’s Note Analysis
The short author’s note at the conclusion of The Gold Cadillac provides invaluable context for Taylor’s choice of perspective, setting, and conflict in the novel. As with other novels in Taylor’s body of work, The Gold Cadillac is a fictional account that reflects Taylor’s own memories and family relationships. In particular, Taylor recounts positive family events seen through ’lois’s perspective, such as picnics and caravans with aunts and uncles—as well as a memory of her father bringing home a new Cadillac. While the novel itself involves harrowing experiences of racism, it also supports a counternarrative that depicts the positive ways that Black children are supported and cared for by their community of family and neighbors.
