Brown Girl, Brownstones - (Contemporary Classics by Women) by Paule Marshall (Paperback)

About the Book

This beloved coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II follows the life of Selina Boyce, the daughter of Caribbean immigrants. Author Danticat explores the novel's themes of identity, sexuality, and values as well as Selina's struggle against the racism and poverty surrounding her.

Book Synopsis

A vivid and bittersweet classic coming-of-age tale, set in immigrant Brooklyn.

Set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and World War II, Brown Girl, Brownstones chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism and to make their new country home. Selina Boyce is torn between the opposing aspirations of her parents: her hardworking, ambitious mother longs to buy a brownstone row house while her easygoing father prefers to dream of effortless success and his native island's lushness.

Featuring a new foreword by Edwidge Danticat, this coming-of-age tale grapples with identity, sexuality, and changing values in a new country, as a young woman must reconcile tradition with potential and change.

Review Quotes

Praise for Brown Girl, Brownstones"Remarkable for its colorful characters, the cadence of its dialogue and its evocation of a still-lingering past." --The New York Times Book Review

"Marshall brings to her characters . . . an instinctive understanding, a generosity and free humor that combine to form a style remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control." --The New Yorker

"An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears." --The New York Herald Tribune

About the Author

Paule Marshall is the author of the novels Brown Girl, Brownstones; The Chosen Place; The Timeless People; Praisesong for the Widow; and Daughters. She has also written several collections of short stories, including Reena and Other Stories, and a memoir entitled Triangular Road. She is Hellen Gould Sheppard Professor of Literature and Culture at New York University.