James is not retelling the story of Huckleberry Finn. It is the story of James, the enslaved man who fled before he was sold away from his wife and daughter. He assists Huck Finn in his attempt to escape his violent, abusive father. The two hide out on a nearby island and eventually take to the river to head for the free states up north.

Along the way, they encounter many of the same adventures in Mark Twain’s seminal book, but Percival Everett tells us James’ story. His frame of reference is radically different from Huck’s. Despite the violence and the threat of violence, this is a compassionate story full of love and empathy.

James is not Jim. James is an educated man who debates philosophers in his dreams. He is the code-switcher par excellence hiding his true self from the white people who lack the imagination to recognize an educated Black man in their midst. James is at times humorous and other times heartbreaking, He meets all kinds on his trip on the river and plays many roles. He faces white violence more than once. Even when rescued by a group of white men, it was for their benefit as they recruited him to pretend to be a white man playing a Black man. The supposed kindness of the white minstrel troupe was revealed to be less than skin deep when James and another Black man pretending to be a white man made up as a Black man try to leave. This feels farcical on its face, but it exposes the expediency of white supremacy in the actions of self-proclaimed good guys. In another tragically comic scene, James is trapped in the boiler room of a steam ship with a Black man who has so internalized white supremacy that he enforces his own enslavement.

 

I loved James. It deserves to be a classic to be read decades from now. I presume it won’t be because it reveals the ugliness of white supremacy too closely. That won’t be the reason people cite, they will object to the use of a racist epithet, but the true ugliness in the book is found in the people who enslaved Jim and his family, the conmen who exploited him, the slavehunters who pursued him, and even Huck who disavows him.

The story is engaging and fast-paced. I started it before going to bed and just stayed up until I finished because I could not put it down. So fair warning, be sure you have time to read it when you start it.