Brown Girl, Brownstones (Identities and Issues in Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Paule Marshall
- First Published: 1959
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Social realism, Bildungsroman, Domestic realism
- Subjects: African Americans, Girls, Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Parents and children, Caribbean, Blacks, New York City, 1940’s, 1930’s, Ethnic groups, Ethnic relations, Immigration or emigration, Inner cities or inner-city life
- Locales: Brooklyn, NY
The Work
Brown Girl, Brownstones, Paule Marshall’s first novel, set in the Barbadian community of Brooklyn, focuses on the coming-of-age of Selina Boyce, whose parents emigrated from Barbados. Selina’s initiation into adulthood is complicated by family strife and the racial prejudice she finds in Brooklyn in the 1940’s. Her mother, mirroring the Barbadian community around her, strives for the American Dream of owning her own home, while her father refuses to be caught up in the pursuit of that dream, longing to return to the idyllic life he associates with...
[The entire page is 1936 words long]
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