IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK by James Baldwin

Reviewed by Nisha Bhat

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK by James Baldwin is the story of a young black couple separated when the man, Fonny, is falsely accused of rape and imprisoned. The story is largely narrated by Fonny’s lover and soon-to-be-mother Tish, and it unfolds through a set of disconnected scenes in the present and the past. It is interesting how the novel progresses rapidly where scenes are not necessarily resolved until later in the novel and are centered on how the characters feel. The overtone of the book is of blues and lamentation where Fonny and Tish’s two families come together to raise funds to set him free, but encounter numerous setbacks including racist police and the suicide of Fonny’s father. A frustrating part of the novel is that the story does not have a plot resolution, which left me wondering what happened to Tish and Fonny.

Baldwin depicts the struggles of African American community vividly and is very lyrical in reflecting the love of Fonny and Tish to overcome all the hardship misplaced onto them. He writes with a lot of emotion and empathy. While the story is set in the seventies, it could easily take place today. However, I also felt like this story has been told before. While the novel was moving, it is not the necessarily the most memorable of Baldwin’s novels.