Review of HARLEM SHUFFLE by Colson Whitehead (New Release)

 3.5 Stars

This crime caper novel full of heists, shakedowns and rip-offs is set in Harlem.  Its three sections, set in 1959, 1961 and 1964, have the protagonist becoming more and more involved in the criminal underworld. 

Ray Carney, a self-made man who owns a furniture store in Harlem, “was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked.”  Though he wants the reputation of an honest purveyor of home furnishings, he does accept goods and jewelry of unknown provenance from his hapless cousin Freddie, a small-time crook.  Though Freddie’s repeated refrain is “’I didn’t mean to get you in trouble,’” he pulls Ray further into criminal activities which bring him into contact with corrupt cops and local crime lords and place him in dangerous situations.  Ray’s father was a hoodlum and, though Ray wants to escape the criminal legacy of his father, “to disavow the crooked inclinations of his nature,” he seems unable to wrest himself from his roots because “the original foundation held him up, unseen in the dirt.”

Initially, it was difficult for me to become interested.  Heist novels are not a favourite genre.  Because I had accepted a galley in return for a review, I persisted and gradually I did become more interested in Ray’s attempts to balance his crooked and straight lives.  His inner conflict is clearly developed:  he wants to have a legitimate, honest business which will allow him to support his family, but financial security evades him despite his education and hard work.  His ambition means the temptation of quick money is difficult to resist.  His love for and loyalty to Freddie who is like a brother to him also makes it difficult to refuse his cousin when he comes pleading for help. 

Ray is a complex character who arouses complicated emotions.  I found myself rooting for him because he wants to better himself and provide for his wife and children whom he loves.  His dreams are thwarted by circumstances; certainly racism challenges his efforts to be an upstanding citizen.  For instance, when he wants to be licensed to sell a particular line of furniture, he is told, “’We don’t cater to Negro gentlemen.’”  When he wants to join a Black social club to make contacts, he knows he will not be accepted because he is too dark.  Civil rights protests and riots endanger his business:  “Carney knew firsthand how hard it was for a Negro shopkeeper to persuade an insurance company to write a policy.  The vandalism and looting had wiped out a lot of people.  Whole livelihoods gone, like that.”  Ray has so much stacked against him.

On the other hand, I found myself becoming impatient and frustrated with Ray.  His brotherly loyalty to Freddie is admirable at first, and I feel sorry for his being dragged into Freddie’s schemes.  However, when Freddie’s escapades endanger Ray’s family, it’s time for Ray to stop “plotting a safe route of travel for his cousin” and bailing him out.  What happens to Freddie is inevitable, and Ray should have stepped away sooner:  “How long do you keep trying to save something that has been lost?”  The novel’s second section focuses on Ray’s desire for revenge and that certainly stripped away my sympathy for him.  When Ray’s financial situation improves, especially after Elizabeth returns to work, so that he doesn’t really need to continue his crooked dealings, he persists, admitting “He was no longer a mere errand boy for uptown crooks but a proper middleman.” 

Ray’s relationship with Elizabeth left me puzzled.  We are not given her perspective, but Ray seems to believe that his wife knows nothing about his underworld activities.  For instance, he thinks, “Elizabeth would leave his ass in a second when she found out about his crooked side.  Call the cops herself if thugs came knocking.”  He often leaves the house in the middle of the night, “keeping crooked hours,” and she suspects nothing?

The book has a very strong sense of place.  Harlem with its culture and politics comes alive.  Whitehead describes “The black city and the white city:  overlapping, ignorant of each other, separate and connected by tracks.”  Certainly the criminal underworld and the legitimate world intersect.

I have read Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys.  Though I preferred them to Harlem Shuffle, that is not to say that this latest novel is not worth reading. 

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.