Book excerpt: Precious Anne Sprately, a mulatto by way of rape, finds herself full of hopelessness and despair in the face of the constant and seemingly infinite oppression that is a way of life in 1940s Virginia. Living as a Negro, with all of its pain, was no longer acceptable to her. And no matter how hard it was or what crimes she had to commit against her heritage, she would do it. At all costs, she had to be free. Precious Anne, in a final attempt for happiness and peace of mind, takes advantage of her mixed heritage and passes for white. Almost Snow White is "a powerful tale of a young black woman who learns what it is to be black by being white."