Claude McKay

A Black American longshoreman struggles to feel at home after returning from service in WWI in this classic Harlem Renaissance novel. When America joins World War I in 1917, Jake Brown enlists, ready to fight the Germans and become a hero. Yet when he arrives in France, he's treated more like a slave than a soldier. He spends his time toting around lumber and picking fights with his white comrades. After deserting his post, he finds work and contentment...

"Buried in the archive for almost ninety years, Claude McKay's Romance in Marseille traces the adventures of a rowdy troupe of dockworkers, prostitutes, and political organizers--collectively straight and queer, disabled and able-bodied, African, European, Caribbean, and American. 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...

An important text in the canon of African American literature, representing a unique approach to exploring the complexities of race, class and identity during the early twentieth century. Through his use of lyrical language and poetic imagery, McKay offers insightful meditations on the cultural displacement experienced by many African Americans living in northern cities such as New York City.

"A monumental literary event: the newly discovered final novel by seminal Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay, a rich and multilayered portrayal of life in 1930s Harlem and a historical protest for black freedom The unexpected discovery in 2009 of a completed manuscript of Claude McKay's final novel was celebrated as one of the most significant literary events in recent years. Building on the already extraordinary legacy of McKay's life and work,...