in Brooklyn, New York. Beginning when she is ten, the novel traces the various influences that affect her development until she reaches college age. As she struggles with warfare between her parents, her sexual awakening, racism, and the development of her own values, Selina’s is a painful coming-of-age. Yet she seems strong and resolute at the novel’s end.

The novel is divided into four parts. The first, “A Long Day and a Long Night,” introduces the various characters as they go about their business in a Brooklyn neighborhood on a single day. The second part, “Pastorale,” is a lyrical evocation of two girls’ friendship and Selina’s despair at the physical prospect of growing up. Part 3, “The War,” occurs simultaneously with World War II but centers on the warfare between Selina’s parents over Barbadian land willed to Deighton. Silla wants to sell it and “buy house”—a New York brownstone—while Deighton wishes to return to Barbados. The fourth part is entitled “Selina” and treats Selina as a young woman finally come of age, challenging her mother and community, having her first love affair, attending college, and being wounded by racism.

Besides being the first American novel to treat a black girl’s coming-of-age, Brown Girl, Brownstones is also the first to explore fully a black mother-daughter relationship. Silla and Selina have a relationship deeply complicated by the warfare between the determined Silla and Deighton, Selina’s beloved but weak-willed father. Through much of the book, Selina hates her mother, for she ruthlessly cheats Deighton out of his inheritance and then, after he regains it and squanders it, causes him to be deported. Silla also speaks contemptuously of Selina’s older friends, Miss Thompson and Suggie Skeete.

Yet even as Selina seems to reject her mother, she begins to act like her. When her older lover Clive, whose weak will and artistic temperament are reminiscent of Selina’s father, finds it difficult to detach himself from his mother to attend to Selina’s needs, Selina rejects him as decisively as Silla would have. She shows an equal amount of resolve when she rejects the community of materialists in the Barbadian Homeowners Association and when she decides, at the end of the novel, to return to Barbados. Although these latter two actions may represent an effort to follow her father’s wishes, her capacity for resolve derives entirely from her mother.

In a society that paid little attention to the welfare of young women of color, Brown Girl, Brownstones provided a much-needed contribution. Like many other works of women’s literature, it was not properly appreciated when it was first published, but it has grown in influence and importance as the study of women has developed. Adopted and reissued by the Feminist Press, the novel now must be regarded as one of the masterpieces of coming-of-age literature.

That Paule Marshall had no precedent for such a novel makes her achievement all the more remarkable. She eagerly read Gwendolyn Brooks’s Maud Martha (1953), which was the first book to describe a black woman’s consciousness, but she had no model for a book about a black girl’s interior life. Moreover, she could find few models of a strong woman character like Silla Boyce. In an interview Marshall attests the importance of creating such characters: “Traditionally in most fiction men are the wheelers and dealers. They are the ones in whom power is invested. I wanted to turn that around. I wanted women to be the centers of power.” Thus Brown Girl, Brownstones is one of the pioneering works of black women’s fiction.

Marshall pays tribute to the tradition of oral storytelling. In "Shaping the World of My Art," she recounts listening as a child to her mother and her mother's friends sharing stories in the kitchen of their brownstone. Marshall refers to these women as the "kitchen poets" because of their masterful use of language. She learned early on that the essence of good storytelling lies in characterization. In her novel, the straightforward linear plot revolves around the portrayal of characters. The drama and suspense in the narrative are intertwined with the characters — especially Selina — and their quest for identity. The language used by Marshall's immigrant characters is poetic, dramatic, vibrant, and often tinged with irony and humor.

The themes of self-discovery and establishing personal autonomy are not new to literature or African-American writing. However, Marshall's first novel is somewhat unique in its depiction of strong female protagonists. Brown Girl, Brownstones has garnered favorable comparisons to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Dorothy West's The Living Is Easy (1969), Nella Larsen's Quicksand (1928), Ann Petry's The Street (1946), as well as some works in her Miss Muriel and Other Stories collection (1974) and Gwendolyn Brooks's Maud Martha (1953).

Identity, culture, and history are pivotal elements in shaping Marshall's second novel, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People (1969). The story unfolds in Bournehills, a region of the fictional Bourne Island in the Caribbean, which serves as a metaphor for the Third World. The residents of Bournehills are predominantly uneducated, impoverished, and descendants of slaves. However, they take pride in their heritage and independence, achieved through an uprising led by Cuffee Ned. Despite this, Bournehills remains poor, undeveloped, and seemingly suspended in time.

Numerous economic development projects have attempted to "bring the people into the twentieth century," but these initiatives consistently fail. These efforts to modernize Bournehills symbolize the intrusion of the Western world, particularly the U.S., which aims to impose its standards, ideals, and will on the local inhabitants. These projects often involve substantial financial investments, but they disregard the people they intend to help. The residents of Bournehills persist by holding onto their heritage, refusing to be reshaped by money and technology at the expense of their identity, customs, and beliefs.

Marshall's central argument is that the history and heritage of a people should be respected on their own terms, rather than dismantled in the name of "progress." A culture must have the freedom to determine its own future. Otherwise, a revolution, similar to the one led by Cuffee Ned, may become the only solution.

The primary characters embody two conflicting forces vying for control in the novel. On one side are the outsiders (referred to as people from "away" by the Bournehills residents), including Saul Amron, who leads a research team preparing for a development project; Harriet, his wife; and Allan Fusso, the team's statistician. Harriet performs favors, engages in good deeds, and saves people, all with good intentions. However, she fails to recognize her underlying need to manipulate and control. She views herself as improving the lives of the locals, mistakenly believing that her value system is the only correct one. In this sense, she represents an extreme portrayal of the attitudes of industrialized nations towards the Third World.

The time-locked residents of Bournehills are represented by Delbert, a rumshop owner and leader in Spiretown village; Stinger, a cane cutter; Leesy Walkes, an elderly widow; and Vere Walkes, Leesy's nephew. They all adhere to the spirit of Cuffee Ned, prioritizing independence and community over individual gain and materialism.

One of the most fascinating characters in the novel is Merle Kinbona. Although she has lived in the Western world and been part of it, she remains spiritually connected to Bournehills. Merle navigates between the outsiders and the black inhabitants of Bournehills. Her personal struggles mirror those of the Bournehills community, yet she symbolizes the potential for change. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Merle must reconcile the conflicting worlds within herself. Only by confronting and accepting her past can she hope to take control of her life and shape her future.

Characterization is the glue that holds this novel together. The evolution of the main characters, particularly Merle Kinbona, drives the storyline. The landscape and events intertwine with the characters, highlighting the interdependence of humans and their reliance on nature. Marshall uses rich metaphors and draws parallels between the Bournehills landscape and its people. For instance, Merle talks about a cassia tree in her yard that appears lifeless. Just when it seems ready to be cut down, new leaves emerge, and it thrives once more. Roads vanish; the waves are depicted as mourning for those lost in the diaspora, either drowned in the ocean or who perished as slaves. The mistreatment of the environment mirrors the abuse and oppression faced by the residents of Bournehills.

Connecting nature with characters in literature or using the landscape to reflect cultural or political themes is not a novel concept. However, Marshall's skillful use of this technique, combined with her depiction of black women as figures of integrity, pays homage to the tradition of African-American women writers, notably Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston's renowned pear tree scene in Their Eyes Were Watching God is perhaps the finest example of blending nature, character, and theme.

Praisesong for the Widow (1983) explores the African diaspora and the challenges faced by African Americans in grappling with what W. E. B. DuBois termed "double consciousness" — the effort to merge the dominant Eurocentric culture with an awareness of African roots and culture. Avey Johnson, the protagonist of this novel, endures the agony of an unfulfilled life, complicated by the belief that she must sever all connections to her African heritage or black American culture to find happiness. She feels a deep pain without understanding the reason. Her suffering is partly due to double consciousness.

Avey adopts American materialism but gradually loses her zest for life. She and her husband, Jerome, think they must abandon every trace of their past life of poverty in Harlem — listening to gospels, dancing to jazz and blues, enjoying picnics and boat rides on the Hudson with other black people — to prove themselves worthy of middle-class life in North White Plains. They painfully strive to erase their African heritage to "fit in."

As a child, Avey spent her summers in the South with an aunt who took her ritualistically to a place known as Ibo Landing. There, her aunt recounted the tale of slaves who walked across the Atlantic back to Africa. Aunt Cuney also imparted other aspects of their African heritage, such as the Ring Shout. She insisted that "Avey" use her given name — Avatara — because a nickname was reminiscent of the dehumanizing attitudes of slavery, where people were treated as property. A nickname served to strip Africans of their humanity, much like Kunta Kinte being renamed "Toby" and treated like livestock.

Recently widowed, Avey embarks on a summer journey to the Caribbean island of Carriacou, where she begins to find the strength to heal, reconcile her past and present, and connect with her African roots. In Carriacou, Avey recalls Ibo Landing and its associated myth, forging a link to Africa that resolves the central conflict of the novel. Through this connection, Avey discovers her true identity and overcomes the struggle of double consciousness by renewing her ties to the broader black community and her African heritage.

Praisesong for the Widow narrates Avey's journey. In her mid-sixties, Avey has spent her life trying to understand her place in the world. The pursuit of affluence, which ultimately led to her husband Jerome's death, also distanced them from the African-American community. Two of Avey's three daughters, Sis and Anawilda, are so engrossed in materialism that they remain unaware of the missing piece of their identity.

During Avey's youth, Aunt Cuney served as the guardian of traditions and culture, similar to the musicians and storytellers of her African ancestors. It is only when Avey travels to Carriacou that she encounters a guide and teacher akin to Aunt Cuney in the form of Lebert Joseph. Both Aunt Cuney and Lebert Joseph steer Avey in the right direction, using myths, personal example, and even confrontation. These characters are often mystical and always symbolize the life force that becomes central to Avey's existence: Africa.

The novel is distinguished by its character development. Flashbacks are employed to illustrate Avey's connection to her past and heritage, driving the narrative forward. These flashbacks unveil the fragments of time and experience that Avey needs to draw upon for her healing and future growth. They enable her to follow in Aunt Cuney's footsteps and pass on the lessons of identity to her grandchildren.

During a conference hosted by the Zora Neale Hurston Society, Marshall explained that she writes to explore questions like, "How does a black woman writer thrive in this country?" Part of the answer is that Marshall, much like the female characters she crafts—from Selina to Avey—must understand and define themselves within the broader black world of the West Indies, Africa, and the Diaspora. Women are central to Marshall's fiction. They emerge as spiritual healers and cultural custodians. In this context, Praisesong for the Widow represents the culmination of themes from Marshall's earlier novels. Selina in Brown Girl, Brownstones searches for a new identity, which Merle discovers in The Chosen Place, the Timeless People. In this third novel, Marshall illustrates through Avey the profound inner strength that comes from being deeply rooted in her African heritage.