sarful's review
5.0
A collection of heartbreaking, gritty, and real, short stories about the women who inhabit the area of Brewster Place. A place hastily put up to appease a population, but no one ever cares enough to make it more than downtrodden place from inception to end.
These women are soft, hard, blunt, sweet and all in between. And their lives are hard. A kind of hard where they never complain, they make the best out of nothing, but everyday presents a new struggle. And it’s depressing. A broken off piece of fiction that reads like real. And it’s told in such beautiful description and storytelling.
Great piece of work.
These women are soft, hard, blunt, sweet and all in between. And their lives are hard. A kind of hard where they never complain, they make the best out of nothing, but everyday presents a new struggle. And it’s depressing. A broken off piece of fiction that reads like real. And it’s told in such beautiful description and storytelling.
Great piece of work.
gabyisacat's review
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Originally found it on a list of books as a little women replacement, never having read little women I didn't know what to expect really. But this is compilation of the stories of the women of Brewster place, a dilapidated old street where dreams stagnate, and yet everyone is still just trying to get by. Each section is a different character but they blend together well and honestly they just remind me of the women I grew up with. A sad, yet warm and familiar story of women trying to make lemonade out of lemons.
askmashka's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
syds_shelves's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don't see my extended family anymore. The last time I saw them was at my great great grandmother's funeral 3 years ago and before that, it had been more than ten years. This book reminded me of the best and worst of them. People can be complex and sifting through the feelings and pain isn't always clean, but with books it can be. This book reminded me of every conversation I would try and piece together through mumbles I heard through closed bedroom doors. It reminded me of every time I would be dismissed outside or to a different room so "grown folks" could talk. It reminded me of the best and the worst of the people I've loved who share blood with me and who I don't see anymore. With that, I already had a sandwich made of sympathy and tender feelings towards each character, and I didn't think it could grow until it turned into a triple-decker. I hate the limitations of this book - I want volumes and paragraphs about each of these people. I need to know that they're going to be okay. I need them to be okay. I also know that the snippets of life in this book is what makes it so special. They exist within each other's stories and in the pages, and that's it. Anything more might ruin the magic of the stories. But fuck, do I want more. I can't think of a short story collection (I don't read many for this very reason) other than Brandon Taylor's Filthy Animals that managed to pain a complete picture of characters and life for me, and Brewster was far more impactful for me than the former (and I love Brandon Taylor). I was comparing this to other "tales of misery" books - Homegoing, There, There, A little Life... I think this blows those out of the water in terms of the hopefulness. Maybe everything turns out okay. Maybe these women will still always have each other. This, unlike the others, leaves the ending open. It keeps you from the edge of truly knowing. And I think that's a kindness, even though I want more. This is so good. It is so much. I love it so much. Wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Rape, and Panic attacks/disorders
chanman's review against another edition
3.0
I think that this novel is one that I should like more than I do. I liked the language in it and the different characters were nice. I liked how all of these people, whether they were willing to admit it or not, were tied together based on the place in which they lived. However, I have never been one for short stories, primarily because they kept switching characters, with no consistent flow of narrative. Still, I think that this book did a good job helping me care for these various peoples and their plights. The very last story, at the very end was a little confusing to me in terms of what and why it happened, but I think that is just me. For those reasons I give it a three out of five.
cantordustbunnies's review against another edition
3.0
This book is heavily imbued with "that" brand of feminism which describes buildings as phallic. In one particularly memorable passage about men she lumps in the usage of firearms and the moon landing as having something to do with male sexuality and the penis. It is rife with identity politics and standpoint theory. Luckily Naylor is an excellent if not melodramatic storyteller and the book remains engaging despite this. She does have a habit of inserting long winded and flowery sentences in amongst a much more straightforward writing style which comes across as hamming it up more than anything else. A subtler approach would have gone a long way in making the events in this novel more impactful. It is very much an intersectional feminist social justice type of book, so if you're not inclined to agree with how the author conceives of politics it can be alienating or maybe elicit an eye roll at times. Rather than exploring themes of universal humanity in her characters she highlights their identities. This is unfortunate because I do think Naylor has important things to say and is clearly talented. Ultimately I liked this novel mostly because of its earnestly heartfelt quality and wonderful pacing but didn't appreciate its mawkishness or the underlying ideology behind it.
rodiom's review against another edition
5.0
I currently have the lovely privilege (and honor) of accessing Gloria Naylor’s archives at Lehigh University. I’m taking a course on her work and archives, and together we read Women of Brewster Place.
My love for this novel is definitely championed by the respect and admiration I have for Gloria Naylor, but also the experience of reading her work alongside a classroom of diverse female students. My professor is also incredibly passionate about Naylor’s work, and when you have teachers who care, there’s nothing more inspiring.
Now on my thoughts and opinions… Women of Brewster Place is an incredibly rich, layered, and in my opinion politically emotional text. The female characters of this novel, were flawed, human, complex, and for me it felt as if they themselves breathed the same air I did. They just felt so real. Written in multiple different POVS, each chapter follows a different woman (all who live in the same residential building), and their stories are interwoven and build upon each other’s to reach a climactic and also hopeful end.
This story unapologetically bares the flaws and triumphs of humanity wide open. It makes us question institutional and structural oppression that impedes on these women’s ability to dream and flourish. Mostly, it evaluates the most humane experiences of grief, guilt, abuse, love, and desire. This book honors the diverse magnitude of Black Women’s lives, and I believe it should be required reading for all.
Also, it’s just so beautifully written, so poetic, and incredibly immersive. Though each story is tangibly short, there is so much depth, so much to explore, that I could loose myself in the lives and chapters of each character for a millennium.
My love for this novel is definitely championed by the respect and admiration I have for Gloria Naylor, but also the experience of reading her work alongside a classroom of diverse female students. My professor is also incredibly passionate about Naylor’s work, and when you have teachers who care, there’s nothing more inspiring.
Now on my thoughts and opinions… Women of Brewster Place is an incredibly rich, layered, and in my opinion politically emotional text. The female characters of this novel, were flawed, human, complex, and for me it felt as if they themselves breathed the same air I did. They just felt so real. Written in multiple different POVS, each chapter follows a different woman (all who live in the same residential building), and their stories are interwoven and build upon each other’s to reach a climactic and also hopeful end.
This story unapologetically bares the flaws and triumphs of humanity wide open. It makes us question institutional and structural oppression that impedes on these women’s ability to dream and flourish. Mostly, it evaluates the most humane experiences of grief, guilt, abuse, love, and desire. This book honors the diverse magnitude of Black Women’s lives, and I believe it should be required reading for all.
Also, it’s just so beautifully written, so poetic, and incredibly immersive. Though each story is tangibly short, there is so much depth, so much to explore, that I could loose myself in the lives and chapters of each character for a millennium.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book, with the exception of the ending. It was anti-climactic, and it didn't provide any closure for the reader. I understand that the author was being symbolic, but the effect was flat and lifeless and false. It's a shame that the ending was so dull because the rest of the book had kept me hooked throughout. If the end had lived up to the promise of the rest of it then this review would have been a full five stars, no question. As it is, the bad ending can't diminish the excellent story/stories that came before.
gobblingupbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved this but holy shit check trigger warnings before reading!! That last story really took it out of me
My favorite story was Mattie! I also really loved Naylor’s lyrical, feverish prose in the prologue and epilogue.
My favorite story was Mattie! I also really loved Naylor’s lyrical, feverish prose in the prologue and epilogue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Alcoholism
Minor: Child death
caughtbetweenpages's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A beautiful anthology collecting the lives of the Black women living in an under-served neighborhood from the neighborhood's inception to the moment it's torn down. I was especially delighted that the stories didn't exclusively focus on doom and gloom and difficulties, but that there was specifically room made for the beautiful moments of camaraderie between friends and families, specifically the way these generations of women do their best to build one another up even when the rest of the world fails them. There is a lot of sorrow (check the TW list), but the perseverance underlying it all was what kept me reading.
I was a little thrown off by the variety in length for some of the stories (eg. the opening story, Mattie, was about 1/5 of the whole book, whereas others were only a few pages long), because it seemed to grant more weight to some of these women compared to the others, and set me up to expect more of them, but it didn't make it less enjoyable to read overall. It did make it a little hard to pick up on the fact that the collection was moving through time, but again that wasn't a detracting factor to my enjoyment.
I was a little thrown off by the variety in length for some of the stories (eg. the opening story, Mattie, was about 1/5 of the whole book, whereas others were only a few pages long), because it seemed to grant more weight to some of these women compared to the others, and set me up to expect more of them, but it didn't make it less enjoyable to read overall. It did make it a little hard to pick up on the fact that the collection was moving through time, but again that wasn't a detracting factor to my enjoyment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Racism, Rape, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Lesbophobia