Cover of Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit

by Lillian E. Smith · 1944

+ Want to read

When it was first published in 1944, this novel sparked immediate controversy and became a huge bestseller. It captured with devastating accuracy the deep-seated racial conflicts of a tightly knit southern town. The book is as engrossing and incendiary now as the day it was written.

Genre
historical fiction
Themes
raceAfrican Americancivil rightswomen
Setting
GeorgiaAmerican South
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 384 pages

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Liked Strange Fruit? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Strange Fruit. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. In My Father's House Ernest J. Gaines · 1978 Shares fiction, historical fiction, African American
  2. Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns · 1984 Shares fiction, historical fiction, classics
  3. A Bigamist's Daughter Alice McDermott · 1982 Shares fiction, literature, women
  4. Ginny Gall Charlie Smith · 2016 Shares fiction, historical fiction, southern
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“People who read Strange Fruit tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Let the Dead Bury Their Dead Randall Kenan · 1993
  2. Rampart Street David Fulmer · 2006
  3. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House Eric Hodgins · 1946
  4. Ship of Fools Katherine Anne Porter · 1962

“If you want more of the same (historical fiction about race), start with these.”

  1. Paris Trout Pete Dexter · 1988
  2. Leaving Cold Sassy: The Unfinished Sequel to Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns, Katrina Kenison · 1992
  3. The Year the Lights Came on Terry Kay · 1976
  4. Tobacco Road (Brown Thrasher Books) Erskine Caldwell · 1932

“If it was the classics that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. A Lesson Before Dying Ernest J. Gaines · 1993
  2. Blake: or; The Huts of America Martin R. Delany, Floyd J. Miller · 1969
  3. A Gathering of Old Men Ernest J. Gaines · 1983
  4. Run with the Horsemen Ferrol Sams · 1982

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Charming Billy Alice McDermott · 1998
  2. American Ghost Janis Owens · 2012
  3. Autumn Leaves Barbara Winkes · 2012
  4. Call Me by My Name John Ed Bradley · 2014

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