{"product_id":"strange-fruit-by-lillian-smith","title":"Strange Fruit, by Lillian Smith","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eATLANTIC SOUTH. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClassic Fiction. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLillian Smith’s 1944 publication of a novel whose central plot was a forbidden interracial relationship between a young man from a prominent white family and a young black woman in a small fictional Georgia town in the 1920s, the secret “affair” leading to the woman becoming pregnant, marriages being arranged to cover up the “scandal,” the white man then winding up dead and an innocent black man being charged, was—well—bold, to say the least. That this was Smith’s debut novel and that she made it clear the book’s main point was to indict the twisted damage that racism does to people and society, and to do all of this as a native southerner at the height of Jim Crow’s institutional chokehold on the American South and the prevailing white on black racism across America generally at that time, makes writing and publishing this book an extraordinary act of courage. The fact that Strange Fruit was both a monster commercial success, selling over a million copies in its initial series of printings and banned on a wide scale (the first bans falling in Boston and Detroit on the basis of “lewdness,” though it was just as widely indicted as an existential threat what with its “mixing of the races” by segregationists) provides painful historical testament to the volatile complicated issue of race in this country. Add in that Smith was a lesbian, a fact she did not promote, but almost certainly was known, or at least surmised (if only due to multiple characters in her later fiction being gay) and that she bucked the trend of infantilizing her young black woman character, Nonnie, instead casting her as intelligent and kind and carrying herself grace, and we feel the need to add fearless activist masquerading as successful author onto our list of superlatives in describing Smith. The blow up created by the book itself almost overshadows the fact that this was a very well-written piece of literature by a talented creative professional. But having read enough biographical background on Smith, it seems not out of the realm of possibility that she might have viewed such a massive controversy as the novel’s crowning achievement. It would eventually go all the way to the top. U.S. Post Office officials briefly forbid the novel from being sent through the mail, prior to President Franklin D. Roosevelt having intervened on behalf of Smith and her publisher in cancelling the ban. Of course, it was the “pressure campaign” instigated by Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, known for her keen activism and support of the marginalized, that was key to convincing FDR to lift the ban. . . . When we found this volume at an estate sale and realized that no one really seemed to know anything about it, we could not believe our luck. In decent shape and from the initial rounds of 1944 printings, this was a historic find that we will not soon forget. [Condition: Used Good. The hardcover boards show a good deal of wear, but no major damage; only worn down fabric along the spines, a few nicks, and some bent corners. The only real issue is a pulling away of the front board from the third inside page. But that aside, the binding is still true, all pages fully intact, no foxing or major discoloration of page edges. The date “5-4-44” is printed on the inside along with the original owner’s name. The edition is from the sixth printing and given that Strange Fruit was only released three months earlier and was already that many printings deep proves the immediate popularity of the book. There is one final interesting note: due to a war-time paper shortage, the book’s pages were made purposefully smaller than earlier printings.] \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: Used Good. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFiction. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLillian Smith. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReynal \u0026amp; Hitchcock Publishers, 1944. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHardcover (Sixth Printing), 371 pgs, 5.5 x 7.75\" \/ 14 oz\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Regionals","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49494271197441,"sku":"B1ASSMI00193","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0723\/3264\/0513\/files\/strange-fruit-lillian-smith-01-2858.jpg?v=1782775029","url":"https:\/\/theregionals.store\/products\/strange-fruit-by-lillian-smith","provider":"The Regionals","version":"1.0","type":"link"}