Set in 1930s Harlem, this semi-autobiographical novel follows fourteen-year-old John Grimes as he comes of age in a world shaped by religion, family tension, and unspoken truths. Through a single day of spiritual reckoning and flashbacks from his relatives' lives, Baldwin explores themes of race, sexuality, faith, and identity with poetic force and emotional honesty.
~ Included for its nuanced exploration of queerness, repression, and religious trauma within Black American life. A foundational work that continues to resonate across generations. ~
