A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.

From the “literary icon” (Oprah Daily), Pulitzer Prize Finalist, and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime

When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin…), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a “literary icon” (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature. - (Findaway World Llc)

Library Journal Reviews

Everett's (The Trees) reimagining of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is expertly narrated by Dominic Hoffman, who offers a layered portrait of James's (as opposed to Twain's "Jim's") integrity and dimensionality. James's escape from the Missouri farm where he was enslaved is as much a journey away from a place as it is a path toward self-actualization. His growth is enacted through philosophical interludes and fleeting companionship, forging space for a fully fleshed out characterization that could not exist within the confines of Twain's work. James meets many friends and foes as he searches for a space and time where he and his loved ones are not constantly subjugated, beaten, and murdered. Hoffman's excellent voicework lays bare James's facility at code-switching, illuminating the instant fear forced upon Black people when in the presence of any white person, regardless of their class status. Everett's writing and Hoffman's narration combine to interrogate and activate James's quest for freedom, shifting him from Twain's sidelines into a heroic spotlight. VERDICT Winding, intriguing, and acute, this novel is less a retelling than a reinvestigation of Twain's classic, made possible by Everett's incisive prose and Hoffman's absorbing narration.—Kailyn Slater

Library Journal Reviews

Everett reimagines Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, offering a resonant portrait of James—whom listeners will recognize as Twain's "Jim"—and revealing the harrowing reality of enslavement. Narrator Dominic Hoffman embodies James with exquisite skill, piercingly communicating the depths of his integrity and solemn insight. Hoffman nimbly articulates James's facility at code-switching, underlaid with the ever-present fear of attracting notice from his unpredictable and casually cruel enslavers.