This digital edition of John Henry Hewlett's Cross on the Moon, originally published in 1946, is presented almost entirely in its original form to preserve its historical context and integrity. Readers should be aware that it contains graphic representations of violence and explicit racial language, particularly involving white-on-black violence and sexually explicit scenes. These depictions are stark and may be distressing.
Hewlett—a white journalist and author who grew up in Conyers, GA, and traveled extensively throughout South America and Europe before settling in New York City—sought to portray the harsh realities of racism and discrimination in the southern United States during the early 20th century. While the novel was progressive for its time and well-received by both northern white and black readers, its approach to these themes may not align with our contemporary sensibilities and understandings of racial issues.
We acknowledge that the content of this novel can be deeply unsettling and offensive. It is presented not to endorse these views but to provide a historical and literary lens into the cross-racial solidarity in the first half of the 20th century, as well as the attitudes and social norms of the times, as perceived by a white author.
The recovery of this novel stems from two courses at the intersection of US literary studies and DH taught by Stefano Morello and Cristina Iuli, where Hewlett's novel was taught alongside James Weldon Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, George Schuyler's Black No More, and Nella Larsen's Quicksand, as well as critical essays on the theme of cross-racial representation, solidarity, and relations by Toni Morrison, W.E.B. Dubois and other cultural critics and literary scholars.
Readers are advised to approach Cross on the Moon with an understanding of its historical context and the potentially disturbing nature of its content. If you find such material triggering or distressing, please exercise caution.