Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall

Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall

An unforgettable novel, written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears.--Herald Tribune Book Review
Passionate, compelling . . . an impressive accomplishment.--Saturday Review
Remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control.--The New Yorker
Selina's mother wants to stay in Brooklyn and earn enough money to buy a brownstone row house, but her father dreams only of returning to his island home. Torn between a romantic nostalgia for the past and a driving ambition for the future, Selina also faces the everyday burdens of poverty and racism.
Written by and about an African-American woman, this coming-of-age story unfolds during the Depression and World War I. Its setting--a close-knit community of immigrants from Barbados--is drawn from the author's own experience, as are the lilting accents and vivid idioms of the characters' speech. Paule Marshall's 1959 novel was among the first to portray the inner life of a young female African-American, as well as depicting the cross-cultural conflict between West Indians and American blacks. It remains a vibrant, compelling tale of self-discovery.
Dover (2009) unabridged republication of the edition published by Random House, Inc., New York, 1959.

Brown Girl, Brownstones, The Selected Land, The Timeless People, Praisesong for the Widow, and Daughters are all written by Paule Marshall. She's also the author of many short story collections, including Reena and Other Tales, as well as a memoir called Triangular Road. At New York University, she is the Hellen Gould Sheppard Professor of Literature and Culture.