Claude McKay's 1928 novel, Home to Harlem, is one of the most important works of the Harlem Renaissance. With raw, unflinching candor, McKay explores race, identity, love, and loss and gives voice to the plight of young Black men during the Jazz Age. Jake Brown, a Black American soldier and a World War I deserter, returns to Harlem and struggles to find his place in a vibrant working-class community that's rife with poverty, crime, and racism. He meets various characters, including a displaced Haitian intellectual, prostitutes, hustlers, and jazz musicians, and he experiences everything from love and joy to despair and violence.

First Part
I Going Back Home
II Arrival
III Zeddy
IV Congo Rose
V On the Job Again
VI Myrtle Avenue
VII Zeddy's Rise and Fall
VIII The Raid of the Baltimore
IX Jake Makes a Move

Second Part
X The Railroad
XI Snowstorm in Pittsburgh
XII The Treeing of the Chef
XIII One Night in Philly
XIV Interlude
XV Relapse
XVI A Practical Prank
XVII He Also Loved
XVIII A Farewell Feed

Third Part
XIX Spring in Harlem
XX Felice
XXI The Gift That Billy Gave