This 1953 novel is not only a noiresque literary page-turner, but a blistering critique on race and class. Ann Petry's novels The Street and The Narrows are masterpieces of social realism - volatile but exacting, heartbreaking but often brutally funny ... The Narrows is capacious, elliptical and immersive. Slowly and comprehensively, it envelops you ...The scenes seethe with rage, and yet the book's sheer profusion makes it feel joyous and celebratory