Just Finished Reading If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

If Beale Street Could Talk is a 1974 novel by James Baldwin, adapted to film three years ago.  It depicts the struggles and family relationships of Tish and Fonny, a young black engaged couple deeply in love with each other as they must deal not only with racism in their everyday life in the heart of New York City but also a justice system with scant sense of justice, as Fonny finds himself jailed on a false charge of rape while the victim, a Puerto Rican woman who identified him in a lineup in which he was the only black man, has returned to her native island and is uncooperative with Fonny's lawyer.  The narrative, presented from Tish's viewpoint, alternates between her childhood, the events leading up to Fonny's arrest by a racist cop with a personal vendetta against Fonny, and the ongoing efforts to free him.  In all of this are the two's respective families, each member vividly presented with their distinctive personality and hang-ups, with tensions brought out by Tish's revelation of her pregnancy with Fonny's baby...I was entranced by the interactions: my favorite character was Tish's assertive-yet-compassionate older sister Ernestine.  The way suspects are arrested and incarcerated on drug charges, how plea bargaining causes suspects to admit "guilt" when they are really innocent, the brutal conditions within jail, the deep flaws of suspect lineups, overly steep imposed bails, and police allowed to run roughshod with their actions and unquestioned words are all covered here in this necessarily difficult story.  Sure, it's fiction, but I have no doubt that the author composed it with a number of real stories in his mind.  As a sidelight, I dug Fonny's dream of being a successful sculptor as he rents out his studio and goes after it.  This was my first James Baldwin book: I don't think it will be my last...