{"product_id":"9781617754463","title":"The Book of Harlan","description":"\u003cp\u003eWINNER of the \u003cb\u003e2017 American Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWINNER of the \u003cb\u003eNAACP Image Award\u003c\/b\u003e for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2017 \u003cb\u003eHurston\/Wright Legacy Award\u003c\/b\u003e Nominee (Fiction)!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e Notable Book of 2016\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Simply miraculous...As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding, so does the reader's astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry, intolerance and cruelty, and at the center of \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Harlan\u003c\/i\u003e is the restorative force that is music.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"McFadden's writing breaks the heart--and then heals it again. The perspective of a black man in a concentration camp is unique and harrowing and this is a riveting, worthwhile read.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Book of Harlan\u003c\/i\u003e is an incredible read. Bernice McFadden...has created an amazing novel that speaks to lesser known aspects of the African-American experience and illuminates the human heart and spirit. Her spare prose is rich in details that convey deep emotions and draw the reader in. This fictional narrative of Harlan Elliot's life is firmly grounded amidst real people and places--prime historical fiction, and the best book I have read this year.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eHistorical Novels Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, Editors' Choice\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"McFadden packs a powerful punch with tight prose and short chapters that bear witness to key events in early twentieth-century history: both World Wars, the Great Depression, and the Great Migration. Partly set in the Jim Crow South, the novel succeeds in showing the prevalence of racism all across the country--whether implemented through institutionalized mechanisms or otherwise. Playing with themes of divine justice and the suffering of the righteous, McFadden presents a remarkably crisp portrait of one average man's extraordinary bravery in the face of pure evil.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Through this character portrait of Harlan, McFadden has constructed a vivid, compelling narrative that makes historical fiction an accessible, literary window into the African-American past and some of the contemporary dilemmas of the present.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"McFadden's impressive achievement offers us a window into the often very difficult lives of African Americans from the Jim Crow era up to the present--and, unexpectedly, in wartime Germany. Highly recommended for showing us that however badly black citizens have historically been treated, black lives matter.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Book of Harlan\u003c\/i\u003e opens with the courtship of Harlan's parents and his 1917 birth in Macon, Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies, Harlan and his parents move to Harlem, where he eventually becomes a professional musician. When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre--affectionately referred to as \"The Harlem of Paris\" by black American musicians--Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwald--the notorious concentration camp in Weimar, Germany--irreparably changing the course of Harlan's life. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose, \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Harlan\u003c\/i\u003e skillfully blends the stories of McFadden's familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Akashic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47037951901936,"sku":"9781617754463","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781617754463_p0.jpg?v=1763850730","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781617754463","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}