Early life and education Barbara Neely was born in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1941, She attended a Roman Catholic elementary school and was the only child in her class of Pennsylvania German dialect (popularly known as Pennsylvania Dutch) students to speak English fluently and was the only student of African-American descent to attend her elementary and high school. In 1971, she moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she was awarded a
master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the
University of Pittsburgh. During a trip to San Francisco in 1978, Neely witnessed a woman dancing in front of a band which she says inspired her to take her work in activism even farther. Neely stated, "she [the dancing woman] started pointing to people, and when she turned and pointed to me, it seemed to me that she was saying, 'Do it today, because today is all you have.'" Soon after, Neely had her first piece of fiction, a short story called "Passing the Word", published in
Essence magazine. Neely moved to
North Carolina and began writing for
Southern Exposure as well as producing various shows for the
African News Service. and host of
Commonwealth Journal on Boston Radio. She was also part of an evaluative research team at the Institute for Social Research. (1992), followed by
Blanche Among the Talented Tenth (1994),
Blanche Cleans Up (1998), and
Blanche Passes Go (2000). Most notable about Neely's heroine Blanche is both her physical appearance as well as her occupation; she is a heavy-set, dark-skinned Black woman who works as a maid. Blanche is proud of her work and does not let it get in the way of her independence and proud personality. This immediately sets her apart from the typical protagonist. Other notable characteristics of Blanche are her curiosity, and her ability to piece together clues in order to figure out mysteries. ==Literary style==