''Sent for You Yesterday'' is a novel by the American writer

John Edgar Wideman John Edgar Wideman (born June 14, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist, and essayist. He was the first person to win the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. His writing is known for experimental techniques and a focus o ...

, first published in 1983 (in New York by

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

, and subsequently in London by

Allison and Busby Allison & Busby (A & B) is a publishing house based in London established by Clive Allison and Margaret Busby in 1967. The company has built up a reputation as a leading independent publisher. Background Launching as a publishing company in May ...

, 1984), set in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, during the 1970s. The novel tells the story of Albert Wilkes, who, after seven years on the run, returns to Homewood, an

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. ...

of the East End. ''Sent for You Yesterday'' is the third volume of what some critics call "The Homewood Trilogy". The other books are ''Damballah'' and '' Hiding Place'', both published in 1981. In 1992 the

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

published the three in one volume under the title ''The Homewood Books''. In its preface Wideman admits discomfort with the term trilogy because it implies a plan of linking the volumes, and he did not compose the books that way.

References

* 1983 American novels Novels set in Pittsburgh Fiction set in the 1970s Novels by John Edgar Wideman Avon (publisher) books PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction-winning works African-American novels {{1980s-novel-stub