The Street

by Ann Petry Narrated by Danielle Deadwyler

Overview

With a new introduction from New York Times best-selling author Tayari Jones, The Street was Ann Petry's first novel, originally published in 1946 and hailed by critics as a masterwork.
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.

“Petry is the writer we have been waiting for; hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time. Ann Petry, the woman, had it all, and so does her insightful, prescient and unputdownable prose.”-Tayari Jones, New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

Sacred Fire

Ann Petry's best-selling first novel, The Street, is the tragic story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her struggle to live decently and raise her son amidst the violence, poverty, desperation, and racial discord of Harlem in the late 1940s.

Lutie's marriage falls apart after she takes a job as a live-in nanny and maid in Connecticut, leaving her husband, Jim, and her son behind. When Lutie finds out that Jim "has taken up with another woman," she packs up her son and her things and moves out. She eventually ends up on 116th Street, signing the lease on the only apartment she can afford: three rooms in a building with narrow dark halls and prying, noisy neighbors.

Often compared to Richard Wright's Native Son for its stark despair, The Street was the first book by an African American female writer to sell over one million copies.

Doris Grumbach

"One of the masterpieces of Black fiction...the fortunate republication of The Street will return this fine novelist to the critical ranks of major 20th-century writers." -- National Public Radio

From the Publisher

A major literary invention . . . A truly great book.” —The Los Angeles Times “Overflows with the classic pity and terror of good imaginative writing.”   —The New York Times “A powerful, uncompromising work of social criticism. To this day, few works of fiction have so clearly illuminated the devastating impact of racial injustice.”  —Coretta Scott King “A classic of American realism . . . The Street rushes toward its fatalistic climax like a train toward a washed-out bridge.” —Newsday —

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175806862
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/20/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	952,501

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