Classic African American Fiction

Angelic Essie Belle Johnson and devilish Laura Reed both agree that they need to do something to spice up their lives and earn more money. So, they start their own church on the street in front of their Harlem apartment. With Laura's gift for performing and Essie's melodious voice, the two quickly become a hit and must move their services into a renovated theater. But as their congregation grows, a host of misfits enter the scene - some honest, but others who just want a piece of the pie.

When Jackson returns home to his family after an absence of 10 years, he discovers that his bonds to them have been irreparably rent by his absence. In the midst of his alienation, he falls in love with Catherine Carmier, setting the stage for conflicts and confrontations which are complex, tortuous, and universal in their implications.

Set largely in the culture-blending Vieux Port of Marseille at the height of the Jazz Age, the novel takes flight along with Lafala, an acutely disabled but abruptly wealthy West African sailor. While stowing away on a transatlantic freighter, Lafala is discovered and locked in a frigid closet. Badly frostbitten by the time the boat docks, the once-nimble dancer loses both of his lower legs, emerging from life-saving surgery as what he terms "an amputated man." Thanks to an improbably successful lawsuit against the shipping line, however, Lafala scores big in the litigious United States.

A civil rights activist and key figure in African American literary history, Alice Dunbar-Nelson made her mark during the emerging Harlem Renaissance. Violets and Other Tales is her debut (included here in full, save for three stories later updated in The Goodness of St. Rocque). The collection includes poetry, short stories, and essays offering a varied examination of class differences, racial identity, oppression, intolerance, and women’s societal roles. The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories assembles 14 of Dunbar’s short works of fiction.

Clotel; or, The President’s Daughter is rooted not only in the horrific reality of institutional slavery but also in the historical fact of Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with the enslaved Sally Hemings (here represented by the character Currer). In William Wells Brown’s telling, Currer has two daughters by Jefferson, Clotel and Althesa. Both become Jefferson’s legal property when they are born, and both wind up at auction - along with their mother - when Jefferson dies.

Poet Jean Toomer’s short-story and poetry collection.

In this fictional confession, an unnamed narrator reveals the “great secret” of his life: he was born mixed race - and his ability to pass as white has provided him a unique perspective on America’s profound racial prejudice. As he recounts his experiences in the American South, the suburbs of the Northeast, New York City jazz clubs, and various European capitals, he also grapples with the emotional fallout of a life lived in constant fear of discovery - a life lived, in other words, in a culture unaccountably preoccupied with the shade of a person’s skin.

Vanessa Davis Griggs’ Blessed Trinity novels tackle tough questions of faith with humor and honesty. The sixth entry in the series, The Truth Is the Light features the return of the always-entertaining Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center congregation. Here, the flock’s newest member is causing quite a stir, but he’s not the only one bringing drama into the church house.

"Nací y fui un hombre de color, no lo olvidéis, pero viví como una mujer de color durante diecisiete años." Henry Cebolla Shackleton es un pícaro niño esclavo en cuyo camino se cruza el legendario abolicionista John Brown, «el más americano de todos nosotros», en palabras de Henry David...

Longlisted for the National Book Award Winner of the Reading the West Book Award in Fiction Winner of the Writers' League of Texas Book Award in Fiction An extraordinary short story collection about community, home, betrayal, and forgiveness—from a writer whose “spellbinding, buoyant”*...

A piercing short story collection that explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small town, from an acclaimed emerging writer Set mostly in and around a small working class neighborhood, Clark explores the lives of young Black girls, women, and...

A radically vulnerable and virtuosic inquiry into the pursuit of freedom and the interminable nature of struggle, from the award-winning author of What We Lose Weaving personal reflections with piercing insight and expansive vision across nine brilliant essays, Clemmons explores the complexities...

A wide-ranging collection, including two novellas and ten stories exploring complex identities, from the acclaimed author of Corregidora, The Healing, and Palmares “Gayl Jones’s work represents a watershed in American literature. From a literary standpoint, her form is impeccable . . . and...

A reissue of a hidden gem from the award-winning author of Sugar, this novel tells the story of a woman who uncovers the fragility of life and the enduring strength of family love. Camilla’s childhood was immersed in love and chaos, and steeped in perfection. As an adult she hasn’t looked...

Marshall Field Finney was named after a department store and dropped like a hot potato when his mother suddenly packed up and left. Now Marshall lives with his hard-drinking father in a crackerbox house and rides a yellow bus through beautiful St. Louis County to his mostly white suburban...

A chance meeting reunites Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, estranged friends who have long been separated by their ambitions. Since losing touch, Irene has become a wife and mother in Harlem, where she remains closely connected to her racial heritage. The seductive Clare, however, now “passes,” enjoying the privileges of white society while hiding her roots from the world, including her rich (and racist) husband.

When Sheriff Mapes is summoned to a sugarcane plantation to find a dead Cajun farmer, he knows who committed the crime. Mapes finds himself powerless, however, when nearly 20 elderly black men confess to the murder. Can justice be served, or will the dead man's brutish father pass judgment his way?

A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian. Eunice Carter...

A quietly influential force in African American literature and art, Clarence Major makes his Penguin Classics debut with the twenty-fifth-anniversary edition of Dirty Bird Blues The PRH Audio book of Dirty Bird Blues by Clarence Major won a 2022 EARPHONE AWARD. Narrated by Dion Graham. A...

A fine, exclusive edition of one of literature’s most beloved stories. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a thirteen-year-old boy, Huck, is in search of adventure on the beautiful shores of the Mississippi River before the Civil War in the American south. When Huck escapes kidnapping by...