When both of your previous novels are Pulitzer Prize-winners, what on earth do you write next? Some writers might play it safe, but Colson Whitehead is not that writer and his new novel, Harlem Shuffle, certainly shows it.
Harlem Shuffle takes the reader back to the ’60s and the predominantly Black neighbourhood of its title. There, we meet Ray Carney, a used furniture salesman who has worked his way up from poverty and dreams of one day being able to put his wife and kids into the warmth of a better apartment (and maybe win the approval of his in-laws). Carney is exceptionally good at what he does. He knows just how to sell a sofa so that it becomes both a need and a luxury; he also knows how to discreetly move a diamond necklace along to a jeweller. And not to ask his cousin Freddie questions about where it came from.
Carney goes through life with a foot in two worlds, wanting desperately to keep them separated, but this becomes much harder when his side hustle catches the attention of some of Harlem’s bigger crooks. As the pressure starts to mount, he must decide what kind of man he wants to be — and just how much dirty work he’s willing to do to become him.
Written in clever, stylish prose, Harlem Shuffle is nothing short of a witty and entertaining read. Whitehead brings interest to the story of Carney’s life with ingenious plotting, structuring the novel around three different ‘jobs’ that he becomes involved in, from a robbery of the Hotel Theresa (the ‘Waldorf of Harlem’) to bringing down the crooked leader of a Black business club. Each incident shows Carney in a new light, revealing the deep complexities of his moral character but also his intelligence and family loyalty.
With its vast array of shameless strivers and memorable crooks, character and setting are the strengths of this novel — it’s Dickens by way of Spike Lee. It would be trite to say that the neighbourhood of Harlem is a character in its own right so I won’t, but it must be said that under Whitehead’s hand Harlem takes on the vivacity of the people who walk its streets. For Carney, Harlem is a land of struggle and opportunity both, and Whitehead brings it to thrilling life in a way that a lot of historical fiction doesn’t.
Another addition to the ever-growing pile of excellent fiction released in 2021, Harlem Shuffle shows off the depths of Colson Whitehead’s literary talent, although that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone familiar with his previous work. But if you somehow haven’t yet read any of it yet, this novel would be the perfect introduction. I can’t wait to read what he writes next.
—Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead (Hachette Australia) is out now.
Harlem Shuffle
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture, making a life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home.
Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his facade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger and bigger all the time...
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Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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