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Episode 7: The Briefcase

Set in 1960s Harlem, a sizzling new novel from the author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys. Today: with riots and protests, things are hotting up in Harlem...

Set in 1960s Harlem, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys spins a sizzling tale of shakedowns, audacious heists and kickbacks.

β€œRay Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked...”

To his customers on 125th street, Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture. Not many people know he descends from a line of uptown crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it.

When his cousin Freddie falls in with a crew who pull off one of Harlem’s most outrageous heists, Ray finds himself in way above his head. Can he succeed in living a good life in a very bad world?

Today: with riots and protests, things are hotting up in Harlem. And that's before Freddie turns up with a locked briefcase...

Read by Rhashan Stone
Writer: Colson Whitehead is the acclaimed US author the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels, The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys.
Abridger: Richard Hamilton
Producer: Justine Willett

14 minutes

Last on

Tue 19 Oct 2021 22:45

Broadcasts

  • Tue 19 Oct 2021 12:04
  • Tue 19 Oct 2021 22:45

Open Book Special: Colson Whitehead

Open Book Special: Colson Whitehead

Elizabeth Day talks to Colson Whitehead in a feature length interview about Harlem Shuffle