Home to Harlem · Character

Gin-head Susy

Gin-head Susy runs an all-male speakeasy where the gin is regal and the hostess is mocked, a hard-drinking woman whose wages drown in liquor and whose breast carries a hive of discontents.

supporting

Also known as Susy

First appearance: iv congo rose

As a supporting figure in Home to Harlem, Gin-head Susy is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

A woman who keeps Zeddy, representing a form of transactional domesticity in the neighborhood.

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Susy throws sociable evenings for yellow poolroom youngsters and bellboys, holding a congenital contempt for women and a vain desire for a lover who will stay once she's cleaned him up and straightened his hair. Her guests drink her Gordon Dry, swap rakish stories, and leave her for pleasures elsewhere, while the boys crack jokes about her ugly spade and B-flat trotters. Her new friendship with the putty-skinned Lavinia Curdy begins to change her, and her gin-soaked front room becomes one of the Belt's essential stages, a place where Harlem's appetites and cruelties are poured out nightly.

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See Gin-head Susy in iv congo rose

Character Web

15 connections

A slice of how Gin-head Susy sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Other

Character groups

Harlem Nightlife Core
Protagonist
Rival and Foil

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

The emotional peak occurs when the narrator, stripped of his last private space and forced into a crowded, sha…

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In the story

Gin-head Susy appears across 4 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

First Part
A woman who keeps Zeddy, representing a form of transactional domesticity in the neighborhood.
Myrtle Avenue
Hosts the party, is attracted to a yellow youth, and becomes angry when he leaves.
VII: Zeddy's Rise and Fall
Susy is the matriarchal provider who keeps Zeddy. She is generous with her cooking and gin but fiercely possessive, issuing ultimatums to keep Zeddy from straying. Her authority is challenged as Zeddy begins to push back.
Second Part
A woman who is keeping Zeddy.

Chapter companion notes

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See Gin-head Susy in iv congo rose

See Gin-head Susy in First Part