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noahsingh's review against another edition
4.0
okay almost died trying to finish this in time for class but it was good!
tc16's review against another edition
5.0
Incredibly honest and heart wrenching. Marshall just gets to the heart of so many conflicts and dynamics of all different types from familial to racial and every kind between and overlapping in ways that very few authors can.
literarilysmitten's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
4.5
chantaldjohnson's review against another edition
5.0
So I changed my rating to 5 stars after reading the book's afterword. It made me love and appreciate it that much more and gave me a much deeper understanding of its contents.
I was so sad to say goodbye to Selina and her world. This is a contender for one of those classics you would read in high school, and could pull so much analysis for your essays and whatnot. Brown Girl, Brownstones is a coming of age novel surrounding Selina Boyce, a first generation child of Barbadian immigrants. The setting is in Brooklyn, NYC in the 1930s upward. Selina is not your average Barbadian girl and constantly challenges the traditions of her West Indian roots. She doesn't find a connection with her peers but is guided through life by the adult women in her life. As she grows up, she experiences tragedy, loss, feeling lonely, racism, a sexual awakening, and this fear of "what's next"--which a lot of us can relate to.
I love that there's this connection between her and her mother throughout the novel that she doesn't really understand until the end. I had an IB English moment thinking of the cyclical themes of mother and daughter. The painting of this hardworking Barbadian immigrant community is also wonderful. A people that is faced with oppression but refuses for it to hold them back. The style of this novel is what really drew me in. Paule Marshall's writing style always dropped me into the story, as if I was part of this world. This story will stick with me for a long time. This is a classic in so many ways and a story I think everyone should read.
I was so sad to say goodbye to Selina and her world. This is a contender for one of those classics you would read in high school, and could pull so much analysis for your essays and whatnot. Brown Girl, Brownstones is a coming of age novel surrounding Selina Boyce, a first generation child of Barbadian immigrants. The setting is in Brooklyn, NYC in the 1930s upward. Selina is not your average Barbadian girl and constantly challenges the traditions of her West Indian roots. She doesn't find a connection with her peers but is guided through life by the adult women in her life. As she grows up, she experiences tragedy, loss, feeling lonely, racism, a sexual awakening, and this fear of "what's next"--which a lot of us can relate to.
I love that there's this connection between her and her mother throughout the novel that she doesn't really understand until the end. I had an IB English moment thinking of the cyclical themes of mother and daughter. The painting of this hardworking Barbadian immigrant community is also wonderful. A people that is faced with oppression but refuses for it to hold them back. The style of this novel is what really drew me in. Paule Marshall's writing style always dropped me into the story, as if I was part of this world. This story will stick with me for a long time. This is a classic in so many ways and a story I think everyone should read.
zoe_'s review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
Such a conflicting and often sad story. I felt for Selina a lot; her reluctant admiration for her mother is always in conflict with some of the more horrible attitudes her mother portrays (but, then again, you totally get where Silla is coming from), her blatant idolization of her father is in conflict with his "ineptitude" (but, then again, you definitely learn how he came to be the way he is). It's overall a very gray story and there are no good or clear answers to the problems Selina is facing.
I definitely recommend reading this if you're interested in books that combine family and societal stories.
I definitely recommend reading this if you're interested in books that combine family and societal stories.
gtea_reader's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
hanvnah's review against another edition
Slow reading. Perhaps I will return to it someday.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Brown Girl, Brownstones is a 1959 novel that focuses on the Barbadian community in Brooklyn, New York. it centres on Selina, her parents and her sister. We first meet Selina when she is ten and we follow her through to her college years. These years include plenty of disagreements between her parents who are temperamentally different. While her mother is driven to seek respectability and security in America, her free and easy father dream of building a house back home. As she gets older Selina pushes back against the expectations and controls of her community and especially her mother and plots an escape with her secret boyfriend. The story ends with Selina having an encounter with a condescending racist and also realising that her boyfriend was never going to follow through with their plans. She drops out of school and makes plans travel to Barbados alone and forge her own path in life.
The setting in the Barbadian community in the 1930s and 1940s makes this stand out from other coming of age stories I’ve read. Many of the familiar elements are there - discomfort with puberty, confusion about the realities of birth, conflict with parents, an unsuitable boyfriend, - but the book really came alive when it focused on the Barbadian community, not something I’ve read about in this time period. The rhythm and cadence of the dialogue came through strongly as did the way the tight knit community could feel claustrophobic to a young woman. Selina’s identity as young, female, Black and Barbadian put many constraints on her and I admired her determination to forge her own path regardless of missteps and obstacles in her way. Even though I didn’t necessarily agree with all her choices.
One other element that stood out powerfully was Selina’s encounter with the horribly racist mother of a friend late in the book. Despite not being violent it was still shocking in its blatantness and for its intent which Selina clearly recognised as being to put her in her place. Yet recognising the intent didn’t negate the impact of the remarks.
This isn’t a book I’ve seen around but I’m glad I stumbled across it.
The setting in the Barbadian community in the 1930s and 1940s makes this stand out from other coming of age stories I’ve read. Many of the familiar elements are there - discomfort with puberty, confusion about the realities of birth, conflict with parents, an unsuitable boyfriend, - but the book really came alive when it focused on the Barbadian community, not something I’ve read about in this time period. The rhythm and cadence of the dialogue came through strongly as did the way the tight knit community could feel claustrophobic to a young woman. Selina’s identity as young, female, Black and Barbadian put many constraints on her and I admired her determination to forge her own path regardless of missteps and obstacles in her way. Even though I didn’t necessarily agree with all her choices.
One other element that stood out powerfully was Selina’s encounter with the horribly racist mother of a friend late in the book. Despite not being violent it was still shocking in its blatantness and for its intent which Selina clearly recognised as being to put her in her place. Yet recognising the intent didn’t negate the impact of the remarks.
This isn’t a book I’ve seen around but I’m glad I stumbled across it.
laurynreads's review against another edition
3.0
It took me a week to read this because it is so dense. I feel like it definitely could have been shorter?