If Beale Street Could Talk

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin's fifth novel, is a love story set in Harlem in the early 1970s. Fonny and Tish are in love and their love protects them from their respective dysfunctional families and the outside world until Fonny is falsely accused of rape. After his imprisonment, Tish finds out she is pregnant and she, her family, and her lawyer race against the clock to find evidence that frees Fonny before the baby is born. This book is about a 19 year old girl named Tish , whose real name is Clementine. She is in love with a 22 year old sculptor named Fonny, whose real name is... Alonzo. They become engaged and she becomes impregnated. However, he is falsely accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman, Victoria Rogers. He was set up by a racist police man and he soon goes to jail. This unfortunately halts their engagement. Ms.Rogers left the United States to go back to Puerto Rico and Tish's mother Sharon travels there to find evidence that will set Fonny free, which pushes them all through New York and San Juan. Baldwin narrates through Tish’s point of view as well as Fonny's. The tone of the story is both sad and sweet.
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