Not Without Laughter' (1930) is based on the author's own childhood and early manhood memories. This moving coming-of-age story takes place in rural Kansas in the 1930s. It chronicles the narrative of little Sandy Rogers as he grows from a boy to a man, and it is a moving depiction of African-American family life in the early twentieth century. Sandy's mother, Annjee, works as a housekeeper for an affluent white family, his strong-willed grandmother, Hager, Sandy's father, Jimboy, who traverses the country looking for work, Aunt Tempy, the social climber, and Aunt Harriet, the blues singer who has abandoned her faith are all introduced.
'Not Without Laughter, ' a vivid examination of growing up and getting strong, is a fascinating account of a family's joys and sorrows.