a book
The Street
Ann Petry · 1946 · 821 pages
The Street tells the poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.
Lutie is confronted by racism, sexism, and classism on a daily basis in her pursuit of the American dream for herself and her son, Bub. Lutie fully subscribes to the belief that if she follows the adages of Benjamin Franklin by working hard and saving wisely, she will be able to achieve the dream of being financially independent.
The first novel by an African-American woman to sell more than a million copies, its haunting tale still resonates today.
recommended by 1 person
sourced from public statements
Brandon Taylor
“I was late to this novel, first published in 1946, but oh my goodness. I read it and felt immediately the narrowness and obsolescence of my own thinking about how to approach race in fiction. It’s a stunning novel about being Black and alive in America, and everyone should read it at least once a year. It’s the most urgent novel about contemporary America I’ve ever read.”↗