James

When Jim, an enslaved man in antebellum Missouri, learns he’s about to be sold away from his family, he flees to Jackson Island, determined to claim his own fate. At the same time, Huck Finn stages his death to escape his violent father. Together, they set off down the Mississippi River on a perilous journey through a divided nation and toward the fragile promise of freedom.

Reworking The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett restores Jim as intelligent, perceptive, grieving, and brave. Familiar scenes gain new weight as long-buried truths about slavery and survival come sharply into focus.

Bold, darkly funny, and unflinching, James is more than a retelling—it’s a reclamation, and a major work of American literature.