Banana Bottom

A Jamaican girl, Bita Plant, who was adopted and sent to be educated in England by white missionary benefactors, returns to her native village of Banana Bottom and finds her black heritage at war with her newly acquired culture.

About the author

Claude McKay was a writer and poet. Born in Jamaica in 1889 to peasant farmers, he wrote poetry and fiction about Black life in Jamaica and America. His books include Harlem Shadows (1922); Constab Ballads (1912); and Songs of Jamaica (1912), as well as a number of novels and short-story collections. A key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, he was also involved in many social causes, particularly in the fight for racial justice. He died in Chicago in 1948.

Summary

“There is an abundant humor to this book and pathos; there is melodrama and the quiet charm of introspective analysis, and above all there is entertainment.”—Saturday Review
A novel of love and war, from the author of Home to Harlem
Bita Plant is adopted and sent to England from Jamaica by white missionary benefactors and returns to her home village of Banana Bottom seven years later a beautiful, cultured young lady. Despite the evangelical guidance of her foster parents and friendship with a white squire, Bita is increasingly drawn to the vitality of her more natural culture with its festivals, superstitions, revival meetings, and passionate courtships. Among her many suitors she chooses to marry the quiet, humble man who allows her to be most true to herself. 

Product details

• Authors: Claude McKay
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.03.1974
• EAN: 9780156106504
• ISBN: 978-0-15-610650-4
• No. of pages: 324
• Weight: 345 g
• Series: Harvest Book, Hb 273; Harvest Book, Hb 273
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Historical fiction, Narrative theme: Coming of age, 15th century, c 1400 to c 1499, FICTION: Literary, LITERATURE: HISTORICAL, FICTION: Christian / Historical, LITERATURE: AFRICAN AMERICAN, FICTION: African American & Black / General, FICTION: African American & Black / Christian, FICTION: Historical / Renaissance, FICTION: Christian / Classic & Allegory, Classic fiction: general and literary, Literature / African American, Literature / Historical