The Street

With a new introduction by TAYARI JONES, author of An American Marriage

''This is a wonderful novel - the prose is clear, the plot is page-turning, the characters are utterly believable'' CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

''Ann Petry''s first novel, The Street, was a literary event in 1946, praised and translated around the world - the first book by a black woman to sell more than a million copies . . . Her work endures not merely because of the strength of its message but its artistry'' NEW YORK TIMES

''My favorite type of novel, literary with an astonishing plot . . . insightful, prescient and unputdownable'' TAYARI JONES


New York City, 1940s. In a crumbling tenement in Harlem, Lutie Johnson is determined to build a new life for herself and her eight-year-old boy, Bub - a life that she can be proud of. Having left her unreliable husband, Lutie believes that with hard work and resolve, she can begin again; she