The Book Show #924

Albany, NY – Harlem in the early 1940's is the setting for the newest historical novel by Kevin Baker, "Strivers Row." Third in the author's "City of Fire" trilogy of New York novels, the book examines the parallel experiences of Jonah Dove, a Harlem clergyman undergoing a crisis of faith, and a directionless teenager named Malcolm Little who is destined to be known by another name. The novel recreates a Harlem at the end of its period as America's black capital and builds toward an explosive draft riot.