There is no escaping any discussion of Percival Everett’s James without first mentioning the central conceit: that this is reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved companion.

This, of course, is what draws readers in: a novel way of experiencing something have known before, a tension in their comfort, a different narrative on stories that seemed so simple.

What James is, however, transcends a mere reimagining. It is an adventure novel, like Huck Finn, but it is also a book that reminds us that for some, adventure is taken not only for thrills, but for survival. 

There is much to be lauded about this novel, among it Everett’s propulsive writing that keeps the action moving steadily through its short chapters. Language is at the core of the themes of the book, with the cleverest idea being that if the code-switching enslaved person: that among themselves, the enslaved characters speak in formal language, but among their captors, they switch into a “slave filter” which makes them more palatable to the unsuspecting and improbing white people around them. There is a power in this code-switching, allowing the enslaved to not-so-subtly control how the slavers feel and act, as James so thoroughly explains to a bunch of enslaved children he is teaching early in the novel:

More than just speaking formally, the titular character can read and write—in fact, the novel is written in his voice along his travels with difficultly-procured notebooks and pencils—but must also keep this secret to himself and close acquaintances. His literacy is a blessing—his dreams allow him to have philosophical debates with John Locke and Voltaire, among others, and his notes allow him to tell his story—but a burden: being discovered as literate would surely enrage the white populace and lead to his demise.

What Everett’s James does, unlike Huck Finn, is give interiority to a character that has nuance, that has a family, that has aspirations, that knows how to navigate the world and isn’t just along for the ride. He is in control of his narrative, and is able to articulate his story to us without intermediary. It is a perspective that is much more interesting than the simple original adventure story, and this retelling feels more important, too.

Whether or not James enters the canon like Huck Finn remains to be seen, but it is definitely a more compelling work than the original, giving real stakes to the adventure and reminding us that sometimes the stories not told are the ones we need to hear the most.