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Lauren 's Reviews > The Women of Brewster Place
The Women of Brewster Place
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The Women of Brewster Place is a powerful collection of intertwining stories surrounding the women who live in an urban housing development. Through seven lives we see decades of history - what brought them to the Place, coming north (the city isn't expressly named, but a few geographical clues in the text make the reader think it is New York) looking for opportunity, love, acceptance and social action.
Exploring the nature of relationships between friends:
Seeing the similarities between a conservative mother and her activist daughter:
An extended portion that I've seen a few other reviews mention where Mattie's comforts Ciel (view spoiler) were particular heartbreaking - but at the same time amazing writing.
Naylor crafts her words so well - fluidly moving across the page. She is a master at setting the scene, and raising the emotional bar. The last few stories of the book are particularly hard to read (view spoiler) and took a bit of shift in tone (reality?) but it worked for me.
Really glad I read this one. I will definitely read more of Naylor's work.
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Book Riot Read Harder 2017 Challenge " A collection of stories by a woman" category
Exploring the nature of relationships between friends:
Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There's a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it is all over.
Seeing the similarities between a conservative mother and her activist daughter:
And she looked at the blushing woman on the couch and suddenly realized that her mother had trod through the same universe that she herself was now traveling. Kiswana was breaking no new trails... she stared at the woman she had been, and the woman to come.
An extended portion that I've seen a few other reviews mention where Mattie's comforts Ciel (view spoiler) were particular heartbreaking - but at the same time amazing writing.
Naylor crafts her words so well - fluidly moving across the page. She is a master at setting the scene, and raising the emotional bar. The last few stories of the book are particularly hard to read (view spoiler) and took a bit of shift in tone (reality?) but it worked for me.
Really glad I read this one. I will definitely read more of Naylor's work.
--
Book Riot Read Harder 2017 Challenge " A collection of stories by a woman" category
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Reading Progress
August 13, 2016
– Shelved
August 13, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 13, 2016
– Shelved as:
1980s-fiction
August 13, 2016
– Shelved as:
audiobooks
August 13, 2016
– Shelved as:
short-stories
February 1, 2017
–
Started Reading
February 2, 2017
–
50.0%
February 2, 2017
–
Finished Reading
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Jenny (Reading Envy)
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Feb 09, 2017 08:29AM
I was first introduced to Gloria Naylor by one of my library school classmates who had gone to a Quaker boarding school for high school, where they had an "everything but dead white guys" curriculum. I read Mama Day from her shelves, loved it.
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Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I was first introduced to Gloria Naylor by one of my library school classmates who had gone to a Quaker boarding school for high school, where they had an "everything but dead white guys" curriculu..."That is a brilliant concept for a curriculum (that being said, there are some dead white dudes worth the time.... but SCORES more of non-white and/or non-guys that have been wholly uprepresented for too long!) Someone else recommeded Mama Day highly, so I will read that too! Thanks Jenny!
Thank you for the review, Lauren. You hits on two of the real strengths of the book: some terrific writing and serious emotional power.Thanks, Jenny, for the reminder of Mama Day.
Bryan wrote: "Thank you for the review, Lauren. You hits on two of the real strengths of the book: some terrific writing and serious emotional power.Thanks, Jenny, for the reminder of Mama Day."
Your review of this one was amazing, Bryan. I expected a strong and emotional story going in, but this being my first Naylor, I didn't realize the writing would be so stellar.
Thank you very much, Lauren.
I'm pretty sure Brewster Place is in Baltimore because Etta Mae runs away from Brewster Place to go to NYC when Basil is a baby. But the city where Brewster Place exists is never actually named.
