Pudd'Nhead Wilson (Penguin Classics)

Reversed identities, an eccentric detective, a horrible crime, and a tense courtroom scene are major ingredients in Twain's witty, yet fierce condemnation of a racially prejudiced society that condoned the institution of slavery. Switched at birth by a female slave who fears for her infant son's life, a light-skinned child changes places with the master's white son. This simple premise underlies Twain's engrossing 19th-century tale of reversed identities, an eccentric detective, a horrible crime, and a tense courtroom scene. Infused with characteristic Twain humor, the novel also fiercely condemns a racially prejudiced society that condoned the institution of slavery.