Before She Disappeared

The racial tension motif is a part of the theme of Invisibility and Marginalization of Women of Color. Frankie experiences racial tension as a stranger and a white woman in a majority Black community. Her anxiety and alienation offer a perspective on the experience of being a racial minority. For example, Stoney is disinclined to hire her solely because she is white, and she attracts attention on the street and in the bar. As an outsider, she attracts hostility and is an easy target for anger and resentment. The racial dynamics of being white in a majority Black community and being Black in a majority white society are not the same due to Frankie’s privileges as a white woman, but they still produce a racial tension that informs the characters’ experiences as they reckon with societal inequality through their personal connections.

The missing girls motif goes back to Frankie’s adolescence when several girls her age disappeared, and the murder went 10 years before being caught. In the story, Lani Whitehorse was both a mother and a daughter, and her death impacted her own daughter. She and Angelique are the missing children who are the focus of Frankie’s quest.