Home to Harlem

Summary

A Black American longshoreman struggles to feel at home after returning from service in WWI in this classic Harlem Renaissance novel.

Plot

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 in London's East End. But a race riot soon drives him to return home to Harlem.

Back in the United States, Jake longs to settle down. He searches for work, friendship, and love, but to find and keep them proves challenging, especially while Jake is haunted by the violence of his past. Still, he chooses to rise above it all.

Publication and Setting

Originally published in 1928, Home to Harlem renders a lively portrait of the New York City neighborhood in the 1920s, while depicting the life of single, working-class, Black men in the industrial Northeast following the First World War.