TheStreet, Petry's best-known work, is often compared to Richard Wright's Native Son (1940). While there are similarities between the two novels, particularly in the portrayal of the economic plight of African Americans in northern cities, The Street moves in different directions. Both in its thematic concerns and its depiction of a black female protagonist, the novel is unique and significant.

Petry was ahead of her time in focusing on what are considered contemporary social concerns: latchkey children, single parenting, and the way the politics of sex establishes an unending maze of oppression. The Street examines the unique role of the AfricanAmerican woman in maintaining sanity amid the triple threat of classism, sexism, and racism.

The novel presents the black woman as the center of the family and the community, as the person who shoulders the moral and ethical responsibilities of a race, and discusses...