Strivers Row

It's Harlem during WWII, and history is unfolding around the fledgling Malcolm X and other true-life figures, including the obsessively sloppy Collyer brothers. This novel completes the trilogy that has so far given us the bestselling Dreamland and Paradise Alley. The epic ends here on an upbeat. In Penny's deep, melodic tones we hear and imagine the cacophony of riots; the sad, syrupy comfort of jazz; the mournful pipe organ of religious doubt. The address of the title--buildings constructed originally for whites, of course--is described as "perhaps the most beautiful block in the entire city." Startled? The book is crammed with surprising facts. A lively education given passionate voice. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 5, 2005
Played out against the backdrop of Harlem in 1943, this generally engaging, sometimes dense third novel from Baker (following the bestselling Dreamland
and Paradise Alley
) reimagines the early days of Malcolm Little—the man who became Malcolm X. As depicted by Baker, the young Malcolm is quick-witted, eager, reckless and impulsive, but also sensitive and possessing a strong sense of justice. These qualities lead to a chance encounter in which he helps Jonah Dove (the Dove family is familiar from Paradise Alley
), a young Harlem minister who is struggling with his own demons as the fair-skinned leader of a black church that has not truly embraced him, despite his being the only son of the church's much-beloved founder; Dove's unfolding story (including his struggles with passing) deepens Malcolm's. The book stays within what's already known about Malcolm X's early adulthood, but Baker covers the territory carefully. He also thoroughly captures the figures (Adam Clayton Powell Jr., West Indian Archie, the Collyer brothers, etc.) and micropolitical climate of wartime Harlem: munitions factories have brought jobs to the struggling community, but low wages, rationing, racial hostilities and an increasing military and police presence makes for possibly explosive combinations. When these tensions do reach the breaking point, Baker lends the resulting fray a visceral reality.

Starred review from May 15, 2006
Each novel in Baker's -City of Fire - trilogy highlights a pivotal event in New York City history: the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory fire of 1911 ("Dreamland"), Civil War draft riots of 1863 ("Paradise Alley"), and, finally, World War II and the racial tensions it exacerbated ("Strivers Row"). Seamlessly blending the historic and the fictitious, this book (named after Harlem's two most prestigious blocks) primarily documents events in the lives of the fictional preacher Jonah Dove, son of the founder of one of Harlem's greatest churches, and the historical Malcolm Little, a street hustler on the verge of discovering Islam who eventually becomes black nationalist leader Malcolm X. However, perhaps the most memorable character in this novel brimming with unforgettable characters is 1943 Harlem itself. Baker richly describes the good in the city -ebullient dances at the Savoy, wild rent parties where the -King Kong - (homemade corn whiskey) flowed -as well as the bad -motorcycle police patrols encountering angry mobs, restaurants refusing to seat black patrons. Thomas Anthony Penny masterfully portrays all these vibrant individuals -from fiery preachers to Irish politicos to street pimps. Essential for all literary fiction collections." -Beth Farrell, Portage Cty. Dist. Lib., OH"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.