Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral: A Library of America eBook Classic

Authors: Fauset, Jessie Redmon
Publisher: Library of America
BISAC/Subject: FIC004000, FIC043000, FIC049000
ISBN: 9781598535754, Related ISBNs: 1598535757, 9781598535754
Classification: Fiction
Number of pages: 254,
Audience: General/trade
Synopsis: A classic novel of the Harlem Renaissance: Jesse Redmon Fauset's moving, delicately observed portrait of life along the color line

Jessie Redmon Fauset’s Plum Bun (1928) brilliantly exemplifies the cultural, social, and creative ferment of the Harlem Renaissance. Its heroine, the young, talented, light-skinned Angela Murray, hopes for more from life than her black Philadelphia neighborhood and her middle-class upbringing seem to offer. Seeking romantic and creative fulfilment, and refusing to accept racist and sexist obstacles to her ambition, she makes a radical choice: to pass as white, and study art in New York City.

Against the vivid, cosmopolitan backdrop of Harlem and Greenwich Village in the Roaring Twenties, her subsequent journey through seduction, betrayal, protest, and solidarity is ultimately a journey toward self-understanding. Along the way, Fauset includes fictionalized portraits of leading Harlem Renaissance figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois (for whom she edited The Crisis) and the sculptor Augusta Savage, recently denied a chance to study in Paris because of her skin color. Revising conventional narratives of the “tragic mulatta” and skillfully blending realism and romance, Plum Bun raises questions about art, race, gender, inspiration, and authenticity that will continue to resonate for readers today.
Sign up for our literacy platform for reading at home

LightSail includes up to 6,000 high interest, Lexile aligned book titles with every student subscription. Other titles are available for individual purchase.

Watch the power of

Lightsail in action

×

SUPPORT GROWING READERS

Immediately Engage Students
Immediately Engage Students
Simple intuitive design has classrooms reading within minutes.
Exponentially Grow Reading Time
Exponentially Grow Reading Time
Students love the LightSail experience and naturally spend more time reading.
Accelerate Literacy Development
Accelerate Literacy Development
Students reading 25 minutes a day on LightSail are seeing 2+ years of Lexile growth in a single year.

LightSail Education is a comprehensive Lexile and standards-aligned, literacy platform and digital e-book library. Including multimodal learning functionality and featuring books from leading publishers, LightSail holistically assesses and nurtures each student on their reading and writing-to-learn journey, throughout elementary, middle, and high school.

*LightSail offers a 2,000 or a 6,000 title bundle with its student subscriptions. Other titles are available for individual purchase.