From the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance author of Passing, a novel of one mixed-race woman's far-reaching quest to discover identity and happiness.   At twenty-three, Helga Crane teaches in 1920s Georgia at one of the country's finest colleges for African Americans, and she's engaged to a fellow teacher. Yet happiness eludes her. And when she can't take the snobbish, conformist atmosphere one second more, she breaks off her relationship with her...

This rather simple plot is a most compelling drama that bristles with suspense as it contains all the elements of a classic 19th-century mystery including, reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, and a tense courtroom scene. Set in the fictional frontier town of Dawson's Landing on the banks of the Mississippi River in the first half of the 19th century, the book turned from a farce to a tragedy in the course of Twain's writing...

In The Gilded Auction Block, the acclaimed poet Shane McCrae considers the present moment in America on its own terms as well as for what it says about the American project and Americans themselves. In the book's four sections, McCrae alternately responds directly to Donald Trump and contextualizes him historically and personally, exploding the illusions of freedom of both black and white Americans. A moving, incisive, and frightening exploration...

In reprinting these orations the editor has endeavored to present them here as nearly as possible in their original form. No effort has been made to improve the English. Published in this form, then, these orations will be of value not only to persons studying the development of the Negro in his use of a modern idiom but also in the study of the history of the race. It is in this spirit that these messages are again given to the public.

Three Lives (1909) is a collection of novellas by Gertrude Stein. Characterized by its straightforward narrative style and disjointed prose, Three Lives proved a breakthrough for Stein, who had previously found it difficult bringing her works to publication. Each novella is set in Bridgepoint, a fictionalized version of Baltimore, where working class people of all races undergo the dignities and indignities of life in an industrialized nation. In...

It is a strange time to be Black in America. In this country, waking up Black can be considered a crime. Through this gripping novel, you will embark on a journey that will make you laugh, cry, feel anger, but above all, think. Walk in the shoes of six Black men as they live through being Black in "American't". Through this book, you'll be able to observe how Black men maneuver through corporate America, love, friendship, and religion, while trying...

"The Prototype: A Story of True Love" tells the story of Jadirah, a woman in search of the perfect love. Throughout her journey, Jadirah is striving to maintain her mental, physical, and spiritual health after public shame and loss. Due to the lack of support and compassion from her husband, she must face most challenges on her own. As she embarks on a journey toward the unconditional love that she deserves, she is faced with a choice that will radically...

Fifty Years and Other Poems (1917) is a collection of poems by James Weldon Johnson. Although less popular than his book God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927), Johnson's second poetry collection showcases, his talents as a rising star of African American literature. Including some poems that would be, featured in The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922), an influential anthology compiled and edited by the poet himself, Fifty Years and...

Although best known as a poet and pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance movement, Langston Hughes proves himself one of modern literatures most revered and versatile African-American authors with Not Without Laughter, a powerful classic novel. This is a moving portrait of African-American family life in 1930s Kansas, following young Sandy Rogers as he comes of age. Sandys mother, Annjee, works as a housekeeper for a rich white family,...

Justine Holmes is a widow, former activist, and funeral thief, mourning her husband's death during the aftermath of the Ferguson unrest in St. Louis, Missouri. As family tensions deepen between Justine and her three grown children, a former Bay Area activist at odds with her hometown's customs, a social climbing realtor stifled by the loss of her only child, and a disillusioned politician struggling with his sexual identity, the matriarch is forced...