Internationally known and long praised by contemporary African-American novelists, Paule Marshall is now being recognized as a major American writer. This first book-length treatment of Marshall's work is both an examination of her writing and its place in the tradition of African-American women's fiction and a study of black American and Caribbean literature and culture. Joyce Pettis explores the intersecting patterns of race, class, and gender oppressions that exacerbate the problems engendered by the fractured psyche in Marshall's major characters.

Firmly grounded in black feminist theory and Afrocentric psychology Toward Wholeness in Paule Marshall's Fiction will find an audience among Marshall enthusiasts as well as specialists in women's literature, Caribbean literature, and African-American literature.