Asali Solomon crafts narratives that delve into the complexities of human experience with a keen insight and distinctive voice. Her writing, often rooted in specific settings, explores the intricacies of relationships and social dynamics. With a sharp eye for detail and compelling prose, Solomon captures the raw realities of life, offering readers works that are both challenging and immersive. Her literary style is marked by its authenticity and its ability to resonate deeply with the reader on an emotional level.
Vividly drawn misfits navigate the complexities of youth and desire in this exploration of identity and belonging. The characters, ranging from a heathen at Jesus camp to a middle-aged mom longing for her past, grapple with their aspirations and the allure of a more reckless lifestyle. As they oscillate between good breeding and the temptation of wild experiences, their stories intertwine in a poignant narrative that captures the essence of longing and the quest for connection. Edward P. Jones praises it as "touching and sensitively observed."
Born to a white mother and an absent black father, and despised for her dark skin, Helga Crane has long had to fend for herself. As a young woman, Helga teaches at an all-black school in the South, but even here she feels different. Moving to Harlem and eventually to Denmark, she attempts to carve out a comfortable life and place for herself, but ends up back where she started, choosing emotional freedom that quickly translates into a narrow existence. Quicksand, Nella Larsen's powerful first novel, has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture of the 1920s. It also evocatively portrays the racial and gender restrictions that can mark a life. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
"Inspired by Mrs. Dalloway and Sula, The Days of Afrekete is a tender, surprising novel about two Philadelphia women at midlife who rediscover themselves-and perhaps each other"--
