Ernest J. Gaines
Ernest J. Gaines wrote with quiet authority about Louisiana's Black community spanning several decades of the twentieth century. A Lesson Before Dying and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman are his most beloved works.
Works
- The Autobiography of Miss Jane PittmanNovel as oral history of a Black woman spanning slavery, Reconstruction, and civil rights
- A Lesson Before DyingNovel about a Black man's execution and a teacher's quest to restore his dignity
- A Gathering of Old MenNovel of elderly men confronting violence, brotherhood, and reconciliation in the rural South
- In My Father's HouseNovel exploring family secrets, faith, and redemption in a small Southern community
- Of Love and DustNovel about a Black man torn between two women in rural Louisiana plantation society