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    James: A Novel
    James: A Novel
    James: A Novel
    Ebook303 pages4 hours

    James: A Novel

    By Percival Everett

    4.5/5

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    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • KIRKUS PRIZE WINNER • A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

    In development as a feature film to be produced by Steven Spielberg •  A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, LA Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Economist, TIME, and more.

    "Genius"—The Atlantic • "A masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own."—Chicago Tribune • "A provocative, enlightening literary work of art."—The Boston Globe • "Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful."—The New York Times

    When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

    While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

    Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a “literary icon” (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKnopf Doubleday Publishing Group
    Release dateMar 19, 2024
    ISBN9780385550376
    Author

    Percival Everett

    Percival Everett is the author of over thirty books, including Telephone, Dr No, The Trees, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and Erasure, which was adapted into the major Oscar-winning film American Fiction. He has received the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and the PEN Center USA Award for Fiction, has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California. James was a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller in hardback, and it has been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and the 2024 National Book Award, and was a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Fiction. Percival Everett lives in Los Angeles.

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    Reviews for James

    4.5/5

    481 ratings29 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Finally read my first novel by Percival Everett and now I see what all the fuss is about. [James] is a clever novel that deals with tough subjects with humor, while somehow still giving them the gravity they are due.

      [James] is a retelling of Huck Finn from Jim's point of view. In my opinion, it's a much more enjoyable book than the original, which I read about a decade ago.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about this one. I love that the author takes back Jim's story as he retells the classic Huckleberry Finn tale. But at the same time, I felt like the storytelling was so heavy handed. Retellings are tricky and I think hearing Jim's story through his own voice is completely different from Huck's POV. But I struggled to connect. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading, I just struggled with it.
    • 4/5
      We had a very interesting discussion last night about this book. Different people were moved by different parts of the book, and we all took exception to James's assertion that he was Huck's biological father. It distorts Huck's character.
      And there are other unlikely aspects to the story, but the feel of slavery is very affecting, and, I am sure, accurate.
    • 4/5
      Reason read: This book is one of the Booker Longlist and it is also one of my upcoming bookclub reads.
      I have previously read Perival Everett and really liked his writing. I was expecting that I might not like it as much as some have liked it, but I liked it. I also liked Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and was hoping that the retelling would not be negatively presented.
      Mark Twain wrote his book in vernacular and local color regionalism. In James, Jim talks like "really remarkably good English" and only in the local color regionalism when a white person was present. And yes, I think that did and does happen, I also felt that this made the retelling not quite as believable for me. Jim was extremely well read and that would also be hard but that was presented as quite possible because the library held these books that he could read. Twain wrote with satire and did not condone what he wrote about. I also find it very interesting that Twain published Huckleberry Finn in England before the US.
      Themes include family, alliance, loyalty and I would add freedom, and racism. Themes in Huckleberry Finn are Freedom, civilization, prejudice. I see overlapping themes in the two books.
      I liked the first part of the book more than the second part but all in all it was a good retelling, a sad tale as there is the sale of Jim's family which did not occur in Huckleberry Finn. Jim is sold in Twain's story as a scam and not to really sell him though he has run away when he was aware that his owner planned to sell him. Jim is the most heroic character in both novels and the other characters are all extremely flawed, ignorant, and prejudiced, especially in Twain's novel. Not so much in Everett's novel. Over all, I really liked the book. I will not rate it 5 stars but I will give in a 4.5 Star.
    • 4/5
      This is a retelling of the story of Huckleberry Finn through the slave Jim’s eyes.
    • 5/5
      A very good book in its own right and a brilliant response to/text in conversation with Huckleberry Finn. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      What a good book. It's somewhat more traditional than other Everett novels, but emotionally richer too.
    • 5/5
      Wow - what a read, especially right after re-reading Huck Finn. Audio is excellent, writing is excellent, story is excellent. Highly recommend.
    • 5/5
      This book has received a lot of great reviews and sometimes the hype exceeds the product but in this case the hype is spot on. A great book. Had a little trouble with the ending which kept it from being a 5. Everett takes the Huckleberry Finn book and reworks it from the viewpoint of Jim or James as he refers to himself, but not in front of whites. This is the strength of the book. Seeing slavery directly from a character that is intelligent but knows that white people can't accept this because it would make slavery harder to justify. There are many parts of the original book used in "James" but Everett takes liberties with time (1860's instead of 1830's) and plot but his changes. help to bring the horror of slavery directly to the reader. There are elements of satire and some positiveness in the relationship with Huck and the other slaves. This book is a must read and deserves all of its accolades. I definitely will read Everett's other books.
    • 4/5
      I am conflicted about this one. Overall, the writing of Everett is brilliantly satirical and horrific. “Jim“ from HUCK FINN ends up being a facade behind the true “James“ in this novel. Did I need that? Truthfully, no. I may be the only one, but I saw Jim's extreme depth, intelligence, compassion, and anger in the original Twain novel. I never saw Jim as a caricature; I saw the true essence of him behind Twain's lines. It is Jim's superior humaneness in the original that (to me) changes Huck's views so drastically that he has to go west into uncharted territory to be with the more “civilized“ humans than the whites he grew up with. However, I do understand Everett's need to show the absolute depravity of slavery not only during those times but to shed a light on how people on the so-called edges of society are still treated today. That alone makes this a necessary read.
    • 4/5
      I thought I might like this even though it's a slave narrative because it is described as humorous....but it is still very hard to read at times for the obvious trauma and abuse that come with the topic. I wouldn't call it funny, though maybe a bit satirical. I love how James is intelligent and literate and speaks two different ways depending on the audience. That is probably the funny part, showing how the white enslavers were idiots for not understanding their intelligence. It is an excellent story, and I liked it better than Huckleberry Finn, but it still leaves you deeply despairing for the hell of slavery.
    • 4/5
      This novel brings a different perspective to the iconic story of Huckleberry Finn and Jim rafting along the Mississippi to escape: Huck from an abusive father and Jim from slavery. This is Jim's version of the story.

      In this novel, Jim in self-educated, able to read and write. He is highly intelligent and has a philosophical bent. He is resourceful and compassionate. Despite all these qualities, none of which were evident in the original novel, Jim's life is the same. As a slave, he has no rights and would be punished for learning to read. He talks in a dialect expected of him when talking to white people, but speaks with a much richer vocabulary and impressive grammar when they aren't around. By giving Jim such qualities, I think the author was forcing the reader to identify more with him, and to highlight the unfairness of slavery.

      There is a lot of thought-provoking subtext in the novel. The symbolism of a well-worn pencil as an item with life and death consequences. A minstrel show in which a black mass passing as white dons blackface. As does Jim, who otherwise would look too black.is used to show the layers of racism. That, and another incident (no spoilers here) bring out a discussion of who is white and who is Black?

      A wonderful book. I love the subversive act of taking one of THE iconic American novels and turning it on its head to denounce slavery. Inequality and racism remain problems today and this book, set many decades ago, is relevant today.
    • 4/5
      I don't remember much about reading Twain's 'Finn' almost twenty years ago.  Upon looking up my notes on it, my main takeaway was that "Twain didn't really know what to do with Jim."  As soon as I heard the great Percival Everett was going to take on the book from Jim's point-of-view, I knew it would be a winner for him.  It automatically went on way too high of a pedestal before it was even released.  Upon reading 'James', I'm a bit disappointed.  Sure, I have only read a couple Everett's books, but Everett is a genius.  This seemed more like a recap of Twain's book with the occasional genius sentence that I expect from Everett sprinkled throughout.  I get that Twain's original work is an adventure novel, but I'm not sure why Everett had to lean so heavy in focusing on plot. The entire point is that James is more layered than he is allowed to let the surrounding white folk around him know.  And I realize James can not be spouting references to modern day things, but I did expect this narrative to be more layered.  Why can't James have an even larger interior wisdom that at least the reader gets to witness, as the way the book is written, James is writing things down, rather than allowing most of the characters around him to see that he is subverting expectations based on race?  Then I was sad about some of the choices in the end of the book.  Possibly re-reading the source material would have helped me here.  I think also, this is Everett's move to a big publisher.  Hopefully that means his backlist of 30+ books will be republished and easier to find?  I can wish.But also, I hope this isn't less amazingness from Percival Everett that we get, just because he moved to a big publisher.  Maybe more plot based books now?  It's funny how that might be mirroring one of the purposes of the book 'James' in the first place.  But really, I think a reply to Twain's 'Huck' was needed, and I think Everett was one of the rare writers who could do it.
    • 4/5
      I've never been a huge fan of Mark Twain, but I really enjoyed this novel based on Jim, a character from Huckleberry Finn. Jim is a slave who learns he is about to be sold and joins Huck on a raft escape down the Mississippi River. Here, although he is still Jim to almost everyone else, to himself he is James, and he can both read and write--talents that, of course, he has to keep hidden in the pre-Civil War South. He also has two manners of speaking, the slave-talk that white people expect and the more "correct" English spoken by white people. In other words, James is not just a crafty slave but an intelligent, capable man. Everett draws on many of the stories in Twain's book, including his and Huck's meetup with the Duke and the King, but in much of the novel, he is on the run on his own, encountering other men both enslaved and on the run and a series of bounty hunters, slave owners, overseers, and bigots. I was intrigued by the episode in which a minstrel quartet in need of a tenor "rents" Jim and makes him up to look like a white man made up to look black.

      James's initial plan is to escape being sold away from his wife and daughter, then earn money to buy their freedom, but this plan takes a sharp turn near the end of the story.

      This novel is entertaining, creative and thought-provoking. I will be looking into this author's other works.
    • 5/5
      “My names is James. I wish I could tell my story with a sense of history as much as industry. I was sold when I was born and then sold again...I can tell you that I am a man who is cognizant of his world, a man who has a family, who loves a family, who has been torn from his family...”

      This is a re-imagining of [The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn], told from Jim the slave’s point of view. A bold concept that could have failed miserably but in the deft hands of an incredibly talented writer, it works brilliantly. It contains many of the narrative set-pieces from the original novel, like storms, riverboats, treasures and con men. All seen through Jim’s compassionate and steady gaze. This is the book of the summer and possibly of the year. Yep, it is that good.
    • 5/5
      Before I begin, I highly recommend that you read this book! The reason I wanted to read it was because it was supposed to flesh out the story of Huckleberry Finn, which is one of my all-time favourite books. Well, this book did have Huck Finn and the slave Jim in it, but it is definitely not a children's book. Percival Everett is a marvellous author. This is the first book that I have read of his, but I've marked the rest of his backlist now. The book is quite simply, brilliant! The characters are living, breathing human beings. The story is gripping and it filled me with a sense of dread and hope from the very first page. Even with the graphic nature of the subject, the book retains a soft sense of humour and portrays random human goodness. I always loved Jim in Huckleberry Finn, but this book portrays his intelligence, compassion, warmth and his total understanding of the entire human race. In this book we see Jim and Huck paddling down the Mississippi River. Their journey is fraught with danger and extreme stealth is required because Jim is a runaway slave, and there are bulletins promising a reward for his capture. On their journey Huck and Jim meet all kinds of different people. I couldn't help but think that this plethora of characters and their various shenanigans is closely linked to Mark Twain's writing. Twain's characters were very singular and unforgettable, and there was good and bad among them. Everett's characters are like this too and they are all so believable. This book is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and I hope that the judges realize what they have here in this unforgettable novel, and award him the top prize.
    • 5/5
      I think I need to sit with this, and perhaps after doing that I will augment this review. Or maybe I don't have a lot to say about this masterpiece. It is tragic, action-packed, funny and redemptive and it tells the story of a real man and of America, then and now. In his GR interview, Everett said he could not have told Huck's story, and that Twain couldn't write this story. I kept remembering that as I listened to this audiobook, and though I would never have had that thought independently it feels absolutely accurate. (The narration by Dominic Hoffman is stellar by the way.) I have read Huck Finn five times and listened to the audio with my then teenage son on a road trip to Memphis. It is one of my favorite books. While I think the grounding in the original may have made me love this a hair more, I don't think it was necessary. This stands on its own, though knowing the basics of the original would be helpful. In the end, the books have very little to do with one another, they are as related and as unrelated as Brave New World is to The Tempest. A new classic is born.
    • 5/5
      “Belief has nothing to do with truth.”

      This book takes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and turns it upside down and inside out! (I kinda wish I had re-read the original before I read this...) It does sag a little in the middle, but it is well worth the read! Telling the story from Jim's point of view, and the reality of a slave's life at the time is just amazing! The slaves change in diction when white people are around is brilliant! And teaching the children how to speak proper ‘slave’ talk around the whites is even better!

      And this is not the Jim you grew up with! This Jim has “…imagined conversations with Voltaire, Rousseau, and Locke about slavery, race and, of all things, albinism.”

      And that big twist at the beginning of Part Three! Whooeee!!! And Chapter Seven of Part Three is awesome! It just gets better from there!

      “I am a sign. I am your future. I am James.”

      “Just James.”
    • 5/5
      Here is a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and because it's by Percival Everett, you already know it's going to be good. This novel is in the form of a diary kept by James, known as Jim in the originating novel. When James finds out he is to be sold, he runs, unwilling to lose his family. He is soon joined by Huck, who is running away for his own reasons and they set out together to journey down the Mississippi River to where it joins the Ohio, which is where James plans to head north. As they travel, they face many dangers and are often separated, but always the dangers that James faces are magnitudes higher, as is made clear, over and over again.

      How strange a world, how strange an existence, that one's equal must argue for one's equality, that one's equal must hold a station that allows airing of that argument, that one cannot make that argument for oneself, that premises of said argument must be vetted by those equals who do not agree.

      Everett makes the horrors of slavery clear, but like he did in The Trees, there is also humor. This is, after all, an adventure story, with the episodic structure of that genre. James is well-read, having used Judge Thatcher's library for years and, like the other enslaved people, he uses the dialect expected of him around white people, but among others like him, he is free to speak the way he wants, a secret language switching that Huck occasionally catches him at. His odd friendship with Huck is wonderfully developed. This is the best book I have read so far this year and I will be surprised if anything surpasses it. It's an extraordinary achievement from one of our greatest living writers.
    • 4/5
      This alternative version of Huckleberry Finn shines the spotlight on Jim, an enslaved man who runs away when he learns he’s about to be sold. Like in the original novel, Jim meets up with Huck but they are soon separated, and Jim takes center stage. Percival Everett gives readers a fully formed version of Jim with intellect, emotions, and a life story. He portrays enslaved people as people, not chattel. On some level I already knew this, but Everett’s use of the classic “show, don’t tell” method reached me in new ways while also being a rollicking good tale.
    • 4/5
      A clever retelling of Huckleberry Finn that shows us much more explicitly than Samuel Clemens did what it means to be enslaved. You will also see why Gov. Desantis would rather not have it talked about.
    • 5/5
      It did take me awhile to become vested in this book. I knew it would be a great book but I had to get over my dislike of "dialect" writing. Once I sat down and just kept reading, the narrative caught my full attention and I finished the book. One of the things that Ann Patchett said about the author, Percival Everett, was that he "is the best-known writer you might not know". I was shocked to read that he has published over twenty novels, as well as short stories, poetry, and a children's book! Look him up, you will recognize some of his books. Anyway, it's a book you don't want to miss!
    • 5/5
      Brilliant storytelling. A riveting reimagination of characters from an iconic volume in American literature. A tale that skillfully blends humor, humanity and unexpected twists to explore issues that remain as timely today as they did in the Civil War era. What isn’t there not to admire in Percival Everett’s latest work? Given the fact that I was utterly delighted a year or so ago when I read Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” I wasn’t entirely surprised that I devoured “James” in only a few days. This is one book that is deserving of all the “hype” in literary circles.
    • 5/5
      Stylistically brilliant and purposeful retelling of the story of Huck Finn and Jim on the Mississippi River, from the point of view of Jim, or James, as he calls himself. James and Huck meet on the island in the river off the coast of Hannibal, Missouri, both escaping terrible fates: James is about to be sold away from his wife and daughter, Huck is escaping his brutal father.

      As Everett says, Twain could not tell Jim's story, because he could not really know Jim's story. In this story, James has taught himself to read and is more educated than most of the whites who surround him. He speaks a Southern slave Blacklish to avoid their detection.

      At every point in this riveting story, I was routing for James to survive and gain his freedom. This is a masterpiece, one that should be read in high schools along with Huckleberry Finn.
    • 4/5
      Percival Everett seems to be a very angry man. The story was good. I liked Trees better.
    • 5/5
      If I could I'd give this 6 stars out of 5. Or maybe 8.
    • 5/5
      In common usage, the word hypothetical is an adjective. However, in the legal context, it acquires new meaning as a noun. These “what if’s” can shed light on legal questions by posing thought experiments that force advocates to examine issues from new perspectives (e.g., "Could a president who ordered SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival [and] who was not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution?"). The truly sorry answer given to this hypothetical was a waffling “no.”

      In his novel, JAMES, Everett adopts just such an approach to examine many of the cruelest aspects of slavery. What if Jim, a character in Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn,” were a well read, highly intelligent and resourceful man. Would he have fared any differently than his peers under the institution of slavery? Everett’s answer to this hypothetical is a resounding “NO.”

      Everett uses this device to plunk his reader right down in the midst a bizarre culture where pejoratives like the “n word” and “boy” are common. Where harsh beatings are administered for the pettiest of offenses—even for no particular offense. Just for the hell of it. Where slaves must fain ignorance in their language and mannerisms while deferring to Whites at all times. Where rape is treated as incidental. Where family separation is just another business transaction. And where resisting or running away is treated as a capital offense. Under such conditions, why would any reasonable White person not fear revolt?

      All of this is wrapped up in a crackling good yarn filled with action, suspense, and lots of truly interesting characters. James, as he prefers to be called presumably because he views Jim as demeaning, is the protagonist this time. Huck plays only a secondary role in this story. He disappears about halfway through and only returns in the end when Everett provides him with a truly astonishing plot twist.

      Although containing a touch of humor—mostly at the expense of the White overlords, reading this novel as anything but a horror story would be a mistake. This truly grim portrayal of America’s greatest shame has much more in common with Shelly’s “Frankenstein” than it does with the Twain classic. Not unlike Everett, Shelly endowed her protagonist with human qualities that forced the reader to identify with the injustice he faces. Though quite effective, the narrative might just give you nightmares.
    • 4/5
      We’ve all read [Huckleberry Finn], or at least we all have a good idea of what it’s about — it is another of those books that gets referenced so much that it’s almost unnecessary actually to read it. But we probably haven’t thought much about how different the story would look if it were told from Jim’s point-of-view. It’s the classic bacon-vs.-egg situation: what seems like a thrilling adventure to the white boy is a hideously frightening life or death struggle to the enslaved black adult.

      Everett brings us face to face with this reality in a delicate, ironic way, letting us draw our own conclusions rather than ramming the obvious down our throats. He says his aim is not to attack Twain’s book, but to complement it in an affectionate way, giving us access to a way of seeing things that would have been closed to the original author.

      He does this on multiple levels, with the most important and unexpected being language: he makes the point that slaves would have communicated between themselves in a private language inaccessible to their white masters, and that has nothing to do with the “slave dialect” they used for talking to white people. Since we don’t know much about this private language, he adopts the arbitrary convention of having the slaves in the story speak standard modern English amongst themselves (the whites all speak southern dialect, of course), and translate this into “Yes, massa” dialect as required to display suitable humility and unthreatening stupidity to the whites. To rub the point in, we see the narrator, James/Jim, giving the black children a formal dialect lesson in an early chapter.

      We also learn that Jim has taught himself to read, and is studying on the quiet in Judge Thatcher’s neglected library of Enlightenment philosophy. Again, this isn’t meant to be taken literally as something that would have been going on behind the scenes in Huck Finn, but it is supposed to make us stop and realise that these are normal, intelligent human beings, perfectly capable of talking about Locke and Voltaire if they got the chance, who are being made to live like animals.

      Everett has the sense of humour and storytelling ability to engage with someone like Mark Twain without making himself look silly, and he has the perception to make us look at something we are very familiar with in a new way: this book probably won’t teach us anything we didn’t already know about slavery, but it will force us to re-examine the way we think about what we have read about it previously. Entertaining and worthwhile.
    • 5/5
      “With my pencil I wrote myself into being. I wrote myself to here.”

      When James (“Jim”), an enslaved man, hears that he is to be sold to a man from New Orleans and separated from his family he runs away, intending to find a way to secure freedom for himself and his family. He is joined by young Huckleberry Finn, who is running from his abusive father. James is aware of Huck’s plight and is protective of him. The narrative is shared from James’s first-person PoV as he embarks on a life-altering journey.

      James by Percival Everett has essentially been described as a reimagining of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In my humble opinion, Percival Everett’s masterpiece is much more than that. The first segment of this novel explores familiar territory from within the framework of the classic that inspired this novel, but presenting the story from James’s PoV adds much depth and perspective to the story many of us have enjoyed over the years. James’s perspective adds a dimension of maturity and a more somber tone to what many of us consider a childhood classic.

      “Waiting is a big part of a slave’s life, waiting and waiting to wait some more. Waiting for demands. Waiting for food. Waiting for the end of days. Waiting for the just and deserved Christian reward at the end of it all.”

      Frankly, I thought the lighter moments described in this novel were less humorous (the satirical element and the irony evoking amusement) and more thought-provoking. The author never resorts to embellishments, even in the most intense moments. James’s approach to life as an enslaved man compelled to suppress his true self, sharing his wisdom on how to survive and navigate through a world that has mostly been cruel to him and his fellow men, is expressed eloquently but often in a reserved tone.

      “White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them..”

      As the narrative progresses, the author takes a detour from his source material and assumes ownership of James’s narrative, presenting our protagonist as a brave, perceptive and wise, self-taught learned person with compassion for his fellow beings. He holds no illusions about the consequences of his actions, fully aware that if caught his fate would differ from that of his fellow runaway Huck. His musings on slavery, racism, the human condition and humanity in general are expressed through his imagined conversations with characters whose works he has been reading in secret.

      “How strange a world, how strange an existence, that that one’s equal must argue for one’s equality, that one’s equal must hold a station that allows airing of an argument, that one cannot make that argument for oneself, that premises of said argument must be vetted by those equals who do not agree.”

      James’s journey is not an easy one and the author does not try to paint it as such. Each of James’s experiences, the consequences of the choices he makes along the and the people he meets (slavers, tricksters, liars and fellow enslaved men and women who have experienced unimaginable cruelty at the hands of their masters) contribute to his understanding of the world around him and the perils he will inevitably face on the road he has chosen to travel. His companion Huck is often unable to comprehend the dangers James could potentially face , often puzzled by what he assumes is James’ uncharacteristic behavior, leading to many meaningful, heartfelt conversations between the two. Needless to say, some scenes are difficult to read, which is to be expected given the subject matter. Set in the years leading up to the Civil War, James is aware of the growing tensions over the issue of slavery but what does this mean for James and his quest for freedom? Will he be able to protect his family from a fate decided for them by those whose intentions and actions are driven by self-interest and utter disregard for human life? Everett tells a story that will stay with you long after you have finished this novel with a surprise revelation toward the end that will change the way you think about the characters and the books that inspired this novel.

      Heart-wrenching, brutally honest, yet brilliantly crafted and immersive with superb characterization and emotional depth, James by Percival Everett is a memorable read. This novel is surely going on my list of favorite reads of 2024. I read an ARC of this novel and promptly ordered a finished copy for my personal collection.

      I followed my reading with the audiobook (after the novel was published) narrated by Dominic Hoffman who has done a remarkable job of breathing life into the characters and this story. All the stars for the audio narration!

      This is my third time reading Percival Everett, after The Trees and Dr. No , and I’m glad to say that with James, he does not disappoint!

      Many thanks to Doubleday Books for the gifted ARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

    Book preview

    James - Percival Everett

    PART

    ONE

    CHAPTER 1

    THOSE LITTLE BASTARDS were hiding out there in the tall grass. The moon was not quite full, but bright, and it was behind them, so I could see them as plain as day, though it was deep night. Lightning bugs flashed against the black canvas. I waited at Miss Watson’s kitchen door, rocked a loose step board with my foot, knew she was going to tell me to fix it tomorrow. I was waiting there for her to give me a pan of corn bread that she had made with my Sadie’s recipe. Waiting is a big part of a slave’s life, waiting and waiting to wait some more. Waiting for demands. Waiting for food. Waiting for the ends of days. Waiting for the just and deserved Christian reward at the end of it all.

    Those white boys, Huck and Tom, watched me. They were always playing some kind of pretending game where I was either a villain or prey, but certainly their toy. They hopped about out there with the chiggers, mosquitoes and other biting bugs, but never made any progress toward me. It always pays to give white folks what they want, so I stepped into the yard and called out into the night,

    Who dat dere in da dark lak dat?

    They rustled clumsily about, giggled. Those boys couldn’t sneak up on a blind and deaf man while a band was playing. I would rather have been wasting time counting lightning bugs than bothering with them.

    I guess I jest gwyne set dese old bones down on dis heah porch and watch out for dat noise ’gin. Maybe dere be sum ol’ demon or witch out dere. I’m gwyne stay right heah where it be safe. I sat on the top step and leaned back against the post. I was tired, so I closed my eyes.

    The boys whispered excitedly to each other, and I could hear them, clear as a church bell.

    Is he ’sleep already? Huck asked.

    I reckon so. I heard niggers can fall asleep jest like that, Tom said and snapped his fingers.

    Shhhh, Huck said.

    I say we ties him up, Tom said. Tie him up to dat porch post what he’s leaning ’ginst.

    No, said Huck. What if’n he wakes up and makes a ruckus? Then I gets found out for being outside and not in bed like I’m supposed to be.

    Okay. But you know what? I need me some candles. I’m gonna slip into Miss Watson’s kitchen and get me some.

    What if’n you wake Jim?

    I ain’t gonna wake nobody. Thunder can’t even wake a sleepin’ nigger. Don’t you know nuffin? Thunder, nor lightning, nor roarin’ lions. I hear tell of one that slept right through an earthquake.

    What you suppose an earthquake feels like? Huck asked.

    Like when you pa wakes you up in the middle of the night.

    The boys sneaked awkwardly, crawled knees over fists, and none too quietly across the complaining boards of the porch and inside through the Dutch door of Miss Watson’s kitchen. I heard them in there rifling about, opening cabinet doors and drawers. I kept my eyes closed and ignored a mosquito that landed on my arm.

    Here we go, Tom said. I gone jest take three.

    You cain’t jest take an old lady’s candles, Huck said. That’s stealin’. What if’n they blamed Jim for that?

    Here, I’ll leave her this here nickel. That’s more’n enough. They won’t ’spect no slave. Where a slave gonna git a nickel? Now, let’s git outta here befo’ she shows up.

    The boys stepped out onto the porch. I don’t imagine that they were hardly aware of all the noise they made.

    You shoulda left a note, too, Huck said.

    No need for all that, Tom said. Nickel’s plenty. I could feel the boys’ eyes turn to me. I remained still.

    What you doin’? Huck asked.

    I’m gonna play a little joke on ol’ Jim.

    You gonna wake him up is what you gonna do.

    Hush up.

    Tom stepped behind me and grabbed my hat brim at my ears.

    Tom, Huck complained.

    Shhhh. Tom lifted my hat off my head. I’s jest gonna hang this ol’ hat on this ol’ nail.

    What’s that s’posed to do? Huck asked.

    When he wakes up he’s gonna think a witch done it. I jest wish we could be round to see it.

    Okay, it be on the nail, now let’s git, Huck said.

    Someone stirred inside the house and the boys took off running, turned the corner in a full gallop and kicked up dust. I could hear their footfalls fade.

    Now someone was in the kitchen, at the door. Jim? It was Miss Watson.

    Yessum?

    Was you ’sleep?

    No, ma’am. I is a might tired, but I ain’t been ’sleep.

    Was you in my kitchen?

    No, ma’am.

    Was anybody in my kitchen?

    Not that I seen, ma’am. That was quite actually true, as my eyes had been closed the whole time. I ain’t seen nobody in yo kitchen.

    Well, here’s that corn bread. You kin tell Sadie that I like her recipe. I made a couple of changes. You know, to refine it.

    Yessum, I sho tell her.

    You seen Huck about? she asked.

    I seen him earlier.

    How long ago?

    A spell, I said.

    Jim, I’m gonna ask you a question now. Have you been in Judge Thatcher’s library room?

    In his what?

    His library.

    You mean dat room wif all dem books?

    Yes.

    No, missums. I seen dem books, but I ain’t been in da room. Why fo you be askin’ me dat?

    Oh, he found some book off the shelves.

    I laughed. What I gone do wif a book?

    She laughed, too.

    —

    THE CORN BREAD was wrapped in a thin towel and I had to keep shifting hands because it was hot. I considered having a taste because I was hungry, but I wanted Sadie and Elizabeth to have the first bites. When I stepped through the door, Lizzie ran to me, sniffing the air like a hound.

    What’s that I smell? she asked.

    I imagine that would be this corn bread, I said. Miss Watson used your mama’s special recipe and it certainly does smell good. She did inform me that she made a couple of alterations.

    Sadie came to me and gave me a kiss on the mouth. She stroked my face. She was soft and her lips were soft, but her hands were as rough as mine from work in the fields, though still gentle.

    I’ll be sure to take this towel back to her tomorrow. White folks always remember things like that. I swear, I believe they set aside time every day to count towels and spoons and cups and such.

    That’s the honest truth. Remember that time I forgot to put that rake back in the shed?

    Sadie had the corn bread on the block—a stump, really—that served as our table. She sliced into it. She handed portions to Lizzie and me. I took a bite and so did Lizzie. We looked at each other.

    But it smells so good, the child said.

    Sadie shaved off a sliver and put it in her mouth. I swear that woman has a talent for not cooking.

    Do I have to eat it? Lizzie asked.

    No, you don’t, Sadie said.

    But what are you going to say when she asks you about it? I asked.

    Lizzie cleared her throat. Miss Watson, dat sum conebread lak I neva before et.

    Try ‘dat be,’ I said. That would be the correct incorrect grammar.

    Dat be sum of conebread lak neva I et, she said.

    Very good, I said.

    Albert appeared at the door of our shack. James, you coming out?

    I’ll be there directly. Sadie, do you mind?

    Go on, she said.

    —

    I WALKED OUTSIDE and over to the big fire, where the men were sitting. I was greeted and then I sat. We talked some about what happened to a runaway over at another farm. Yeah, they beat him real good, Doris said. Doris was a man, but that didn’t seem to matter to the slavers when they named him.

    All of them are going to hell, Old Luke said.

    What happened to you today? Doris asked me.

    Nothing.

    Something must have happened, Albert said.

    They were waiting for me to tell them a story. I was apparently good at that, telling stories. Nothing, except I got carried off to New Orleans today. Aside from that, nothing happened.

    You what? Albert said.

    Yes. You see, I thought I was drifting off into a nice nap about noon and the next thing I knew I was standing on a bustling street with mule-drawn carriages and whatnot all around me.

    You’re crazy, someone said.

    I caught sight of Albert giving me the warning sign that white folks were close. Then I heard the clumsy action in the bushes and I knew it was those boys.

    Lak I say, I furst found my hat up on a nail. ‘I ain’t put dat dere,’ I say to mysef. ‘How dat hat git dere?’ And I knew ’twas witches what done it. I ain’t seen ’em, but it was dem. And one dem witches, the one what took my hat, she sent me all da way down to N’Orlins. Can you believe dat? My change in diction alerted the rest to the white boys’ presence. So, my performance for the boys became a frame for my story. My story became less of a tale as the real game became the display for the boys.

    You don’t says, Doris said. Dem witches ain’t to be messed wif.

    You got dat right, another man said.

    We could hear the boys giggling. So, dere I was in N’Orlins and guess what? I said. All of a sudden dis root doctor come up behind me. He say, ‘Whatchu doin’ in dis here town.’ I tells him I ain’t got no idea how I git dere. And you know what he say ta me? You know what he say?

    What he say, Jim? Albert asked.

    He say I, Jim, be a free man. He say dat ain’t nobody gone call me no nigga eber ’gin.

    Lawd, hab mercy, Skinny, the farrier, shouted out.

    Demon say I could buy me what I want up da street. He say I could have me some whisky, if’n I wanted. Whatchu think ’bout that?

    Whisky is the devil’s drink, Doris said.

    Din’t matter, I said. Din’t matter a bit. He say I could hab it if’n I wanted it. Anything else, too. Din’t matter, though.

    Why was dat? a man asked.

    Furst, ’cause I was in dat place to whar dat demon sent me. Weren’t real, jest a dream. And ’cause I ain’t had me no money. It be dat simple. So dat demon snapped his old dirty fingas and sent me home.

    Why fo he do dat? Albert asked.

    Hell, man, you cain’t get in no trouble in N’Orlins lessen you gots some money, dream or no dream, I said.

    The men laughed. Dat sho is what I heared, a man said.

    Wait, I said. I thinks I hears one dem demons in the bushes right naw. Somebody gives me a torch so I kin set dis brush alight. Witches and demons don’t lak no fires burnin’ all round ’em. Dey start to melt lak butta on a griddle.

    We all laughed as we heard the white boys hightail it out of there.

    —

    AFTER STEPPING ON them squeaking boards last night, I knew Miss Watson would have me nailing down those planks and fixing that loose step. I waited till midmorning so I wouldn’t wake any white folks. They could sleep like nobody’s business and always complained to wake up too early, no matter how late it was.

    Huck came out of the house and watched me for a few minutes. He hovered around like he did when something was on his mind.

    Why you ain’t out runnin’ wif yo friend? I asked.

    You mean Tom Sawyer?

    I guessin’ dat da one.

    He’s probably still sleepin’. He was probably up all night robbin’ banks and trains and such.

    He do dat, do he?

    Claims to. He got some money, so he buys himself books and be readin’ all the time ’bout adventures. Sometimes I ain’t so sho ’bout him.

    Whatchu mean?

    Like, he found this cave and we goes into it and have a meeting with some other boys, but we get in there it’s like he gotta be the boss.

    Yeah?

    And all because he been reading them books.

    And dat sorta rub you da wrong way? I asked.

    Why people say that? ‘Rubbing the wrong way’?

    Well, the way I sees it, Huck, is if’n you rake a fish’s back wid a fork head ta tail, ain’t gone matter much to him, but if’n you go ta other way…

    I git it.

    It seem sumtimes you jest gotta put up wif your friends. Dey gonna do what dey gonna do.

    Jim, you work the mules and you fix the wagon wheels and now you fixin’ this here porch. Who taught you to do all them things?

    I stopped and looked at the hammer in my hand, flipped it. Dat be a good question, Huck.

    So, who did?

    Necessity.

    What?

    ’Cessity, I corrected myself. ’Cessity is when you gots to do sumptin’ or else.

    Or else what?

    Else’n they takes you to the post and whips ya or they drags ya down to the river and sells ya. Nuffin you gots to worry ’bout.

    Huck looked at the sky. He pondered on that a bit. Sho is pretty when you jest look at the sky with nothin’ in it, jest blue. I heard tell there are names for different blues. And reds and the like. I wonder what you call that blue.

    ‘Robin’s egg,’ I said. You ever seen a robin’s egg?

    You right, Jim. It is like a robin’s egg, ’ceptin’ it ain’t got the speckles.

    I nodded. Dat be why you gots to look past the speckles.

    Robin’s egg, Huck said, again.

    We sat there a little longer. What else be eatin’ you? I asked.

    I think Miss Watson is crazy.

    I didn’t say anything.

    Always talkin’ ’bout Jesus and prayers and such. She got Jesus Christ on the brain. She told me that prayers is to help me act selflessly in the world. What the hell does that mean?

    Don’t be swearin’ naw, Huck.

    You sound like her. I don’t see no profit in askin’ for stuff just so I don’t get it and learn a lesson ’bout not gettin’ what I asked fer. What kinda sense does that make? Might as well pray to that board there.

    I nodded.

    You noddin’ that it makes sense or don’t make no sense?

    I’m jest noddin’, Huck.

    I’m surrounded by crazy people. You know what Tom Sawyer did?

    Tells me, Huck.

    He made us take an oath in blood that if’n any of us tells gang secrets, then we will kill that person’s entire family. Don’t that sound crazy?

    How you take a blood oath? I asked.

    You’re supposed to cut yer hand open with a knife and shake with everybody else what done the same thing. You know, so your blood gets all mixed and mashed together. Then you’re blood brothers.

    I looked at his hands.

    We used spit instead. Tom Sawyer said it would do the same thing and how could we rob a bank wif our hands all cut up. One boy cried and said he was going to tell and Tom Sawyer shut him up wif a nickel.

    Ain’t you tellin’ me yo secrets right naw? I asked.

    Huck paused. You’re different.

    ’Cause I’m a slave?

    No, taint that.

    What it is, den?

    You’re my friend, Jim.

    Why, thank ya, Huck.

    You won’t tell nobody, will ya? He stared anxiously at me. Even if we go out and rob us a bank. You won’t tell, right?

    I kin keep me a secret, Huck. I kin keep yo secret, too.

    Miss Watson came to the back screen and hissed, Ain’t you done with that step yet, Jim?

    Matter fact, I am, Miss Watson, I said.

    It’s a miracle with this here boy yakking your ear off. Huckleberry, you get back in this house and make yer bed.

    I’m jest gonna mess it up agin tonight, Huck said. He shoved his hands in his britches and swayed there, like he knew he’d just crossed a line.

    Don’t make me come out there, she said.

    See ya later, Jim. Huck ran into the house, running by Miss Watson sideways like he was dodging a swat.

    Jim, Miss Watson said, looking back into the house after Huck.

    Ma’am?

    I hear tell Huck’s pappy is back in town. She stepped past me and looked at the road.

    I nodded. Yessum.

    Keep an eye on Huck, she said.

    I didn’t know exactly what she was asking me to do. Yessum. I put the hammer back in the box. Ma’am, what I s’posed to keep my eye on, zackly?

    And help him watch out for that Sawyer boy.

    Why fo you tellin’ me all dis, missum?

    The old woman looked at me and then out at the road and then up at the sky. I don’t know, Jim.

    I studied on Miss Watson’s words. That Tom Sawyer wasn’t really a danger to Huck, just a kind of little fellow sitting on his shoulder whispering nonsense. But his father being back, that was a different story. That man might have been sober or he might have been drunk, but in either of those conditions he consistently threw beatings onto the poor boy.

    CHAPTER 2

    THAT EVENING I sat down with Lizzie and six other children in our cabin and gave a language lesson. These were indispensable. Safe movement through the world depended on mastery of language, fluency. The young ones sat on the packed-dirt floor and I was on one of our two homemade stools. The hole in the roof pulled the smoke from the fire that burned in the middle of the shack.

    Papa, why do we have to learn this?

    White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them, I said. The only ones who suffer when they are made to feel inferior is us. Perhaps I should say ‘when they don’t feel superior.’ So, let’s pause to review some of the basics.

    Don’t make eye contact, a boy said.

    Right, Virgil.

    Never speak first, a girl said.

    That’s correct, February, I said.

    Lizzie looked at the other children and then back to me. Never address any subject directly when talking to another slave, she said.

    What do we call that? I asked.

    Together they said, Signifying.

    Excellent. They were happy with themselves, and I let that feeling linger. Let’s try some situational translations. Something extreme first. You’re walking down the street and you see that Mrs. Holiday’s kitchen is on fire. She’s standing in her yard, her back to her house, unaware. How do you tell her?

    Fire, fire, January said.

    Direct. And that’s almost correct, I said.

    The youngest of them, lean and tall five-year-old Rachel, said, Lawdy, missum! Looky dere.

    Perfect, I said. Why is that correct?

    Lizzie raised her hand. Because we must let the whites be the ones who name the trouble.

    And why is that? I asked.

    February said, Because they need to know everything before us. Because they need to name everything.

    Good, good. You all are really sharp today. Okay, let’s imagine now that it’s a grease fire. She’s left bacon unattended on the stove. Mrs. Holiday is about to throw water on it. What do you say? Rachel?

    Rachel paused. Missums, that water gone make it wurs!

    Of course, that’s true, but what’s the problem with that?

    Virgil said, You’re telling her she’s doing the wrong thing.

    I nodded. So, what should you say?

    Lizzie looked at the ceiling and spoke

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