Romance in Marseille

Romance in Marseille
First edition
AuthorClaude McKay
LanguageEnglish
PublisherPenguin Classics
Publication date
February 4, 2020
Publication placeUnited States

Romance in Marseille is a novel by Claude McKay. The novel was published posthumously in 2020, 87 years after it was written, as the original editors considered the novel too transgressive for its time. It is McKay's second posthumously published novel in recent years.

It follows the story of Lafala, a black sailor who becomes wealthy after winning a lawsuit against a shipping line for the mistreatment he experiences as a stowaway. The novel is partly based on the real-life experiences of Nelson Simeon Dede, a Nigerian sailor McKay had met in Marseille.