 The Marrow of Tradition
by Charles W. Chesnutt
A landmark in the history of African-American fiction, this gripping 1901 novel unfolds against the backdrop of the post-Reconstruction South, climaxing in a race riot based on an actual 1898 incident.
all books in General
|  |
| |  Tales of Conjure and The Color Line: 10 Stories
by Charles Waddell Chesnutt
Ten wonderful stories by pioneer of African-American fiction: "The Goophered Grapevine," "Po' Sandy," "Sis' Becky's Pickaninny," "The Wife of His Youth," "Dave's Neckliss," "The Passing of Grandison," more. Witty, charming, insightful.
all books in Fiction
| |
|
 Brown Girl, Brownstones
by Paule Marshall
Set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II, this 1953 coming-of-age novel centers on the daughter of Barbadian immigrants. "Passionate, compelling." — Saturday Review. "Remarkable for its courage." — The New Yorker.
all books in General
| |
| | |
 The Blacker the Berry
by Wallace Thurman
The first novel to openly address color prejudice among black Americans, this moving tale unfolds amid the Harlem Renaissance in an enduringly relevant examination of racial, sexual, and cultural identity.
all books in General
| |
| |  Not Without Laughter
by Langston Hughes
Poet Langston Hughes' only novel, a coming-of-age tale that unfolds amid an African-American family in rural Kansas, explores the dilemmas of life in a racially divided society.
all books in Fiction
| |
|
 The House Behind the Cedars
by Charles W. Chesnutt
Originally published in 1900, this groundbreaking novel by a distinguished African-American author recounts the drama of a brother and sister who "pass for white" during the dangerous days of Reconstruction.
all books in General
| |
| |  Quicksand
by Nella Larsen
Brave, bold, and brilliant, Larsen's autobiographical portrait of a biracial woman's quest for self-identity and acceptance offers a cautionary tale of an individual lost between two cultures.
all books in General
| |
|
 Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black
by Harriet E. Wilson
Seminal autobiographical novel, in which a young mulatto girl is exploited first by a terrifying family for whom she works in the antebellum North and then by an opportunistic husband.
all books in General
| |
|
