Brown Girl, Brownstones

Set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II, this prize-winning 1959 novel chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism, and to make their home in a new country. Selina Boyce, the novel's sturdy heroine, is caught between respect for her hard-working, ambitious mother and deep love for her easy-going, romantic father. As she grows into young womanhood, she must forge her own identity, sexuality, and sense of values. "Marshall brings to her characters . . . an instinctive understanding, a generosity, and a free humor that combine to form a style remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control."-The New YorkerSuggested for course use in:African-American studiesImmigrationNew York CityU.S. literature Paule Marshall is the author of the novels The Chosen Place, The Timeless People; Praisesong for the Widow; and Daughters. She is Hellen Gould Sheppard Professor of Literature and Culture at New York University. Mary Helen Washington is professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park, and editor of three collections of fiction by African-American women writers.