By Percival Everett

James has been getting so much buzz lately, and it is all more than deserved! This retelling of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim (James) the slave who accompanies Huck on his adventure gives so much more insight into the period than the original, honestly. Everett uses the familiar story to capture a wide range of the Black experience in America, including slavery, of course, but also code switching, colorism, and fair weather allies among a whole lot more. It would be a bit overwhelming if it wasn’t so tightly constructed around the narrative.

James overall reminds me of Longbourn, with the peek into how much else is going on behind the scenes of a well-known story, and a stunningly different perspective that gives a classic a whole different meaning. It is excellent, riveting, and also a little painful, stripping away any sort of nostalgic sentiment for a story about a boy traveling the Mississippi on a raft. That said, I haven’t read Huckleberry Finn since high school, and while I remember liking it, I don’t remember specifics about the plot. So, on the one hand, I occasionally wished I recognized more of the scenes to better appreciate Everett’s twists; on the other hand, it certainly increased the suspense having no idea how Jim’s story ends in the original. No spoilers, but I did recognize one distinct departure from the original and wasn’t sure how I felt about it, until it became clear how necessary it was in order to explain James’ later actions in a way that sort of broke my heart. All heaviness aside, and there is a fair amount of that, the overall novel is surprisingly funny as well – I laughed out loud multiple times.

So, James in particular is garnering lots of nominations and awards, but Everett’s bibliography is full of fascinating titles that I’m looking forward to exploring in the future.