Synopses & Reviews
“Remarkable for its courage, its color and its natural control.”—The New Yorker
“Unforgettable...written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears.”—The Herald Tribune
This beloved coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II follows the life of Selina Boyce, a daughter of Barbadians immigrants. Her mother craves the American Dream while her father longs for his island birthplace. The new foreword by contemporary Caribbean author Edwidge Danticat explores the novel's themes of identity, sexuality and values as well as Selina's struggle against the racism and poverty surrounding her.
Synopsis
"An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears." --
The New York Herald Tribune Now including a new foreword by the prolific Haitian author Edwidge Danticat, Brown Girl, Brownstones is the work of one of America's finest contemporary black women writers.
Set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II, it chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism and to make their new country home. Selina Boyce, the novel's memorable heroine, is conflicted by 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. Eventually, in this coming-of-age story, Selina must forge her own identity, sexuality, and sense of values in her new country and reconcile group tradition with individual potential.
Synopsis
A vivid and bittersweet classic coming-of-age tale, set in immigrant Brooklyn. "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." --New York Herald Tribune 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.
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.
"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."
--New York Herald Tribune Synopsis
Beloved bestseller (150,000 copies in print) gets the edition it deserves, with Danticat's new preface.
About the Author
Paule Marshall grew up in Brooklyn and barbados. She has published four novels and a book of short stories in career dating back to Random House's publication of BROWN GIRL in 1959. She has received the John Dos Passos Award for Literature and an American Book Award, and was an honoree of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. Marshall teaches creative writing at New York University. Danticat is author of a volume of short stories and two novels, BREATH, EYES, MEMORY and THE FARMING OF THE BONES. Her books have been translated into seven languages.