Daddy Was a Number Runner (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Louise Jenkins
- First Published: 1967
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Bildungsroman
- Time of Work: June 2, 1934, to the fall of 1935
- Setting: Harlem, New York
- Principal Characters: Francie Coffin, Henrietta, James Adam Coffin, James Junior, Sterling, Sukie Maceo, Maude Caldwell, Aunt Hazel
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Short fiction, Bildungsroman
- Subjects: African Americans, Maturation or coming of age, Children, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, Prisons, Crime or criminals, Gambling, Police, New York City, Prostitution or prostitutes, Depression, economic, Friendship, Harlem, 1930’s, Poverty or poor people, Brothers, Adultery, Self-confidence, Lower classes
- Locales: Harlem, NY
The Novel
Daddy Was a Number Runner is a coming-of-age novel set in Harlem during the depths of the Depression, a psychological story placed in a historically specific setting. Francie Coffin faces the struggles of any adolescent girl poised on the brink of womanhood, but the challenges to her initiation in this setting are almost overwhelming. Her family is loving but about to disintegrate, and the streets outside her Harlem apartment are filled with violence and sexual abuse, police brutality and social protest. It is no easy task growing up in this environment, and...
[The entire page is 2570 words long]
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