The Walls of Jericho by Rudolph Fisher
Published: 1928 | Series: Standalone
Black lawyer Fred Merrit buys a home in a white neighborhood bordering Harlem. Merrit encounters the racism of his new white neighbors as well as racism and classism among the residents of Black Harlem.
About Rudolph Fisher
Rudolph John Chauncey Fisher (1897-1934) was a skilled physician, radiologist, musician, and influential writer during the Harlem Renaissance. His first novel, Walls of Jericho, was published in 1928. He was inspired by a friend's challenge to write a novel treating both the upper and lower classes of black Harlem equally. His second and final novel was published in 1932, and its this month’s book club read, The Conjure-Man Dies. It has long been considered the first novel with a black detective as well as the first detective novel with only black characters. Fisher’s literary career was cut short when he died at the age of 37 in 1934 from abdominal cancer likely caused by his own x-ray experimentation.
The Walls of Jericho is mentioned in Detective Fiction As Time Travel episode.
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