Praisesong for the Widow
by Paule Marshall
from Plume
Brown Girl, Brownstones (Contemporary Classics by Women)
by Paule Marshall
from The Feminist Press at CUNY
"Remarkable for its courage, its color and its natural control."-The New Yorker
"Unforgettable...written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears."-The Herald Tribune
This beloved coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn during the Depression and World War II follows the life of Selina Boyce, a daughter of Barbadians immigrants. Her mother craves the American Dream while her father longs for his island birthplace. The new foreword by contemporary Caribbean author Edwidge Danticat explores the novel's themes of identity, sexuality and values as well as Selina's struggle against the racism and poverty surrounding her.
The Chosen Place, The Timeless People
by Paule Marshall
from Vintage
Reena and Other Stories: Including the Novella "Merle"
by Paule Marshall
from The Feminist Press at CUNY
This collection of Paule Marshall's short works illustrates the growth of a remarkable writer. For the first time these stories, long out of print or difficult to obtain, appear together in a single volume. Introducing the volume is Marshall's much acclaimed autobiographical essay, "From the Poets in the Kitchen" from the New York Times Book Review's series called "The Making of a Writer." This collection included newly written autobiographical headnotes to each story and "Merle," a novella excerpted from Marshall's 1969 novel, The Chosen Place, The Timeless People, and extensively reshaped and rewritten for this collection. It stands as an independent story about one of the most memorable women in contemporary fiction.
Daughters (Plume Contemporary Fiction)
The Fisher King: A Novel
by Paule Marshall
from Scribner
In 1949, Sonny-Rett Payne, a black jazz pianist, fled New York for Paris to escape both his family's disapproval of his art and the racism that shadowed his career. His spectacular success in Europe and his subsequent death there form the dramatic background of Paule Marshall's gorgeous fifth novel, a moving and revelatory story of jazz, love, family conflict, and the artist's struggles in society.
Decades after Sonny-Rett left, his eight-year-old Parisian grandson is brought to his old Brooklyn neighborhood to attend a memorial concert in Payne's honor. The child's visit reveals the persistent rivalries within the family and the community that drove his grandfather into exile. Will the young boy be a harbinger of change and reconciliation or a pawn in the power struggle of those who now wish to claim him in Sonny-Rett's name?
Marshall, who grew up in Brooklyn and set her first novel there -- the classic Brown Girl, Brownstones -- deftly makes the neighborhood itself a protagonist. With characters of astonishing depth and complexity, she chronicles the myths, betrayals, and angers that can alienate people for decades. Yet The Fisher King offers hope in the healing and redemptive power of one memorable boy.
Soul Clap Hands and Sing (Howard University Press Library of Contemporary Literature)
by Paule Marshall
from Howard University Press
Merle: A Novella and Other Stories
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