Ann Petry

La intriga, los engaños y las situaciones límite vertebran estos relatos de Ann Petry, inéditos en español hasta ahora: los huesos de una lavandera negra se mezclan accidentalmente con los de una aristocrata blanca, sacudiendo con ello los cimientos sociales y raciales del Boston de principios de s.xx; un aparente feliz hombre de familia aparece muerto en una zona de prostitucion y el hallazgo sume a su amigos en una espiral de conjeturas; un profesor retirado se ofrece voluntario para darles clase de lengua a los chicos de un reformatorio y acaba siendo involucrado por estos en un acto escalofriante; un obrero sufre humillaciones, reales e imaginadas, a las que solo responde de la forma mas cobarde; y familias enteras aparecen por sorpresa en una gasolinera, transportadas en camion en unas condiciones infrahumanas. Entre el Renacimiento de Harlem y la consagrada literatura afroamericana de Toni Morrison y Alice Walker, se encuentra la narrativa excepcional de Ann Petry, que conquisto a critica y lectores desde la primera obra. Petry dibuja en estos relatos, caracterizados por una gran viveza en los dialogos y un estilo cuidado y pulcro, las vicisitudes de unos protagonistas que comparten la compleja existencia afroamericana en el Estados Unidos del siglo pasado; unas experiencias que todavia resuenan en la actu...

From the time she was born, she had been hemmed into an ever-narrowing space, until now she was very nearly walled in . . . 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. Having left her unreliable husband, Lutie believes that with hard work and resolve, she can begin again. But in her struggle to earn a respectable living amid the violence, poverty and racial dissonance of her surroundings, Lutie is soon trapped: she is a woman alone, too good-looking to be decent, with predators at every turn. The first book by a Black woman to sell more than a million copies, The Street combines the pace of a thriller with an unflinching portrait of injustice and hope.Introduced by TAYARI JONESThe prose is clear, the plot is page-turning, the characters are utterly believable CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIELike the human experience, this book is riddled with pain, but somehow powered by hope TAYARI JONESIve recently had my brain re-wired by Ann Petry, and its that exhilarating feeling of falling in love with one of your lifetime writers for the first time BRANDON TAYLOR

This gripping novel from 1946 is prescient and powerful it is as relevant today as it was when first published.

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE STREETWITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY KAITLYN GREENIDGE'Petry is the writer we have been waiting for, hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time' TAYARI JONES'Her work endures not only because it illuminates reality, but because it harnesses the power of fiction to supplant it' Parul Sehgal, New York TimesLink Williams is a handsome, brilliant Dartmouth graduate whose promise is unfulfilled; because of the lack of opportunities for a young Black man, he tends bar in his New England town. The routine of his life is interrupted when he intervenes to save a woman from a late-night attack. The thick fog rolls in from the river, so it is only when they enter a bar for a drink that Camillo sees her rescuer is black.Camilo is a wealthy, married heiress, who has crossed the town's racial divide to relieve the tedium of her life. Brought together by chance, Link and Camilo draw each other into furtive encounters that violate the rigid and uncompromising social codes of their times.

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE STREETWith a new introduction by Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of LibertiePetry is the writer we have been waiting for . . . insightful, prescient and unputdownable TAYARI JONES A masterpieceNEW YORK TIMES A powerful and moving book . . . A book to watchKIRKUS REVIEWS Its past midnight, and thick fog rolls in from the river like smoke. Link Williams is standing on the dock when he hears quick footsteps approaching, and the gasp of a woman too terrified to scream. After chasing off her pursuer, he takes the woman to a nearby bar to calm her nerves, and as they enter, its as if the oxygen has left the room: in the dim light, they can see that hes Black and shes white.Link is a brilliant Dartmouth graduate, who, because of the lack of opportunities available to him, tends bar; Camilo is a wealthy, married heiress who has crossed the towns racial divide to relieve the tedium of her privileged life. Brought together by chance, Link and Camilo draw each other into furtive encounters that violate the rigid and uncompromising social codes of their times.

In one volume, two landmark novels about the terrible power of race in America from one of the foremost African American writers of the past century.Ann Petry is increasingly recognized as one of the essential American novelists of the twentieth century. Now, she joins the Library of America series with this deluxe hardcover volume gathering her two greatest works. Published in 1946 to widespread critical and popular acclaim--it was the first novel by an African-American woman to sell over a million copies--The Street follows Lutie Johnson, a young, newly single mother, as she struggles to make a better life for her son, Bub. An intimate account of the aspirations and challenges of black, female, working-class life, much of it set on a single block in Harlem, the novel exposes structural inequalities in American society while telling a complex human story, as overpriced housing, lack of opportunity, sexual harassment, and racism conspire to limit Luties potential and to break her buoyant spirit. Less widely read than her blockbuster debut and still underappreciated, The Narrows (1953) is Petrys most ambitious and accomplished novel--a multi-layered, stylistically innovative exploration of themes of race, class, sexuality, gender, and power in postwar America. Centered around an adulterous interracial affair in a small Connecticut town between the young black scholar-athlete Link Williams and white, privileged munitions heiress Camilo Sheffield, it is also a fond, incisive community portrait, full of unforgettable minor characters, unexpected humor, and a rich sense of history. Also included in the volume are three of Petrys previously uncollected essays related to the novels and a newly researched chronology of the authors life, prepared with the assistance of her daughter Elisabeth Petry.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nations literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, Americas best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Petry is the writer we have been waiting for; hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time. Ann Petry, the woman, had it all, and so does her insightful, prescient and unputdownable prose. Tayari Jones, New York Times Book ReviewFrom the author of the bestselling novel The Street, comes a powerful collection of stories that captures a remarkably diverse panorama of African American experience in the 1950s and 1960s.Asmall-town pharmacists decision to take a day off leads his wife to an agonizing encounter with the police. A retired Black college professor teaching at a predominately white high school is kidnapped and forced to witness an unthinkable horror. A young Black girl watches her aunts suitors threaten her familys wellbeing, with repercussions that reverberate for decades. Ann Petry wrote these and the other extraordinary stories in this collection over half a century ago, but the problems they interrogate still exist today, incisively uncovering the consequences of Americas pervasive racism, while telling timeless stories of everyday lives, of aspiration, frustration, and love. Miss Muriel and Other Stories is a delicate, unflinching probe into African-American existence (Boston Globe) from one of the most gifted writers of the twentieth century. Originally published between 1945 and 1971, Petrys stories are a delicate, unflinching probe into African-American existence (Boston Globe) and an assertion of her status as one of the most gifted writers of the twentieth century. Ive recently had my brain re-wired by Ann Petry, and its that exhilarating feeling of falling in love with one of your lifetime writers for the first time. Brandon Tyler

Petry is the writer we have been waiting for; hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time. Ann Petry, the woman, had it all, and so does her insightful, prescient and unputdownable prose. Tayari Jones, New York Times Book ReviewFrom the author of the bestselling novel The Street, Ann Petrys classic 1947 novel portrays a small, sleepy New England town grappling with the indignities and lies of American life.Johnnie Roane has come home from four years of fighting in World War II to his loving parents and his beautiful wife, Gloria. But his first doubts of Glorias infidelity are created on the way home by the local taxi driver, a passionate gossip, and these doubts which mature with the hurricane that is bearing down on them darkening the seemingly perfect town of Lennox, Connecticut. But a greater violence lurks beneath the surface of the stormCountry Place is a classic, page-turning story that masterfully captures the transformation of small-town life in America from one of the twentieth centurys finest writers.Ive recently had my brain re-wired by Ann Petry, and its that exhilarating feeling of falling in love with one of your lifetime writers for the first time. Brandon Tyler

Petry is the writer we have been waiting for; hers are the stories we need to fully illuminate the questions of our moment, while also offering a page-turning good time. Ann Petry, the woman, had it all, and so does her insightful, prescient and unputdownable prose. Tayari Jones, New York Times Book ReviewFrom author of the bestselling novel The Street, a masterpiece of social realism (Wall Street Journal)about a tragic love affair, and a powerful look into how class, race, and love intersected in midcentury America.With a new introduction by Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie.The Narrows deftly explores what it means to have an interior life under the unrelenting gaze of whiteness...it is a master class in using descriptions of place and space to explore the realities of race, gender, class and psychology.Kaitlyn Greenidge, from her introductionIts Saturday, past midnight, and thick fog rolls in from the river like smoke. Link Williams is standing on the dock when he hears quick footsteps approaching, and the gasp of a woman too terrified to scream. After chasing off her pursuer, he takes the woman to a nearby bar to calm her nerves, and as they enter, its as if the oxygen has left the room: they, and the other patrons, see in the dim light that hes Black and shes white.Link is a brilliant Dartmouth graduate, former athlete and soldier who, because of the lack of opportunities available to him, tends bar; Camilo is a wealthy married woman dissatisfied with and bored of her life of privilege. Thrown together by a chance encounter, both Link and Camilo secretly cross the towns racial divide, defying the social prejudices of their times.In this stunning and heartbreaking story, Petry illuminates the harsh realities of race and class through two doomed lovers. This profound, necessary novel stakes Petrys place as an indelible writer of American literature. Ive recently had my brain re-wired by Ann Petry, and its that exhilarating feeling of falling in love with one of your lifetime writers for the first time. Brandon Tyler

Un clásico de la literatura norteamericana absolutamente vigente sobre las dificultades de una madre soltera para sacar adelante a su hijo.Nueva York, decada de 1940. En una vivienda pobre en el corazon de Harlem, Lutie Johnson esta decidida a construir una nueva vida para ella y su hijo de ocho años. Tras dejar a un marido infiel, sola y casi sin dinero, Lutie tiene fe en el sueño americano y esta convencida de que solo necesita trabajo duro y determinacion. Pero en su camino se dara de frente con una realidad marcada por la violencia hacia las mujeres, la pobreza y el racismo.aa Publicada originalmente en 1946 y aclamada por los criticos como una obra maestra, La calle vendio un millon y medio de ejemplares, convirtiendo asi a Petry en la primera autora afroamericana en superar el millon de libros vendidos. Un libro adictivo que auna magistralmente elementos de una trama de suspense con temas sociales aun vigentes, y que traducimos por primera vez al castellano.aa "La calle esta a medio camino entre las belles lettres y la literatura popular, y Ann Petry puede ser considerada una pionera del thriller literario, genero que acabaria popularizando su coetanea Patricia Highsmith", escribe Tayari Jones en el prol

Un clásico de la literatura norteamericana absolutamente vigente sobre las dificultades de una madre soltera para sacar adelante a su hijo.Nueva York, década de 1940. En una vivienda pobre en el corazon de Harlem, Lutie Johnson esta decidida a construir una nueva vida para ella y su hijo de ocho años. Tras dejar a un marido infiel, sola y casi sin dinero, Lutie tiene fe en el sueño americano y esta convencida de que solo necesita trabajo duro y determinacion. Pero en su camino se dara de frente con una realidad marcada por la violencia hacia las mujeres, la pobreza y el racismo. Publicada originalmente en 1946 y aclamada por los criticos como una obra maestra, La calle vendio un millon y medio de ejemplares, convirtiendo asi a Petry en la primera autora afroamericana en superar el millon de libros vendidos. Un libro adictivo que auna magistralmente elementos de una trama de suspense con temas sociales aun vigentes, y que traducimos por primera vez al castellano. La calle esta a medio camino entre las belles lettres y la literatura popular, y Ann Petry puede ser considerada una pionera del thriller literario, genero que acabaria popularizando su coetanea Patricia Highsmith, escribe Tayari Jones en el prologo a esta edicion.