Black Shack Alley

Joseph Zobel author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:27th Aug '20

£12.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

Black Shack Alley cover

The semi-autobiographical, Caribbean novel that explores shifting race relations in early twentieth-century colonial Martinique, with a foreword by Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau

A Penguin Classic

Following in the tradition of Richard Wright's Black Boy, Joseph Zobel's semi-autobiographical 1950 novel Black Shack Alley chronicles the coming-of-age of José, a young boy grappling with his identity in colonial Martinique.

As José transitions from childhood to young adulthood and from rural plantations to urban Fort-de-France on a quest for upward mobility, he bears witness to and struggles against the various manifestations of white supremacy, both subtle and overt, that will alter the course of his life. Zobel's masterpiece, the basis for the award-winning film Sugar Cane Alley, is a powerful testament to twentieth-century life in Martinique, with a foreword by award-winning Martinican author Patrick Chamoiseau.

"Zobel relays José’s pain and frustration in measured, matter-of-fact prose. This perfectly captures the education of an outsider in the shadow of colonization."
—Publishers Weekly

ISBN: 9780143133957

Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 18mm

Weight: 193g

192 pages