Claude Mckay’s 1928 novel, Home
to Harlem, is one of the
most important works of the Harlem Renaissance. With raw, unflinching
candor, McKay explores race, identity, love, and loss and gives voice
to the plight of young Black men during the Jazz Age. Jake Brown, a
Black American soldier and a World War I deserter, returns to Harlem
and struggles to find his place in a vibrant working-class community
that’s rife with poverty, crime, and racism. He meets various
characters, including a displaced Haitian intellectual, prostitutes,
hustlers, and jazz musicians, and he experiences everything from love
and joy to despair and violence.
