Avey Johnson, a middle-class widow, embarks on a transformative journey during a Caribbean cruise, spurred by a troubling dream. Leaving her friends behind, she seeks to reconnect with her roots and the culture she has distanced herself from. This unexpected adventure leads her to confront her past and rediscover her identity. Originally published in 1983 and awarded the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award, this new hardcover edition is part of McSweeney's Of the Diaspora series, highlighting its enduring significance.
Paule Marshall Book order
Paule Marshall was an American writer whose work is characterized by a deep exploration of African American identity and cultural heritage. Her prose is distinguished by a rich language and poetic style, capturing the complexities of life and the search for roots. Marshall's writing focuses on the experiences of women and community, emphasizing strength and resilience in the face of social and historical challenges. Her work is considered essential to 20th-century American literature.






- 2021
- 1991
From one of America's most distinguished black novelists, the acclaimed bestseller that won the 1991 Booklist Award for Best Adult Fiction. Ursa is a well-educated, good-hearted, hard-working young black woman living in New York--a woman seeking to come to terms with herself, her life, and her parents back home in the West Indies.
- 1986
Ein Loblied für die Witwe - bk1006; Rowohlt Verlag; Paule Marshall; pocket_book; 1986
- 1983
Reena and Other Stories
- 210 pages
- 8 hours of reading
This collection of short works illustrates the growth of a remarkable writer. Opening the volume is the much-acclaimed autobiographical essay, “From the Poets in the Kitchen,” which pays homage to the hard-working, storytelling West Indian women who serve as her muses—women who fought back against oppression and invisibility using the only weapon at their command: the spoken word. Such women appear in her luminous short stories, which travel from Brooklyn to Barbados and back again.
- 1981
Brown Girl, Brownstones
- 324 pages
- 12 hours of reading
A vivid and bittersweet classic coming-of-age tale, set in immigrant Brooklyn. Set in Brooklyn during the Great Depression and World War II, Brown Girl, Brownstones chronicles the efforts of Barbadian immigrants to surmount poverty and racism and to make their new country home. Selina Boyce is torn between the opposing aspirations of her her hardworking, ambitious mother longs to buy a brownstone row house while her easygoing father prefers to dream of effortless success and his native island’s lushness. Featuring a new foreword by Edwidge Danticat, this coming-of-age tale grapples with identity, sexuality, and changing values in a new country, as a young woman must reconcile tradition with potential and change. "Remarkable for its courage, its color, and its natural control." —The New Yorker "An unforgettable novel written with pride and anger, with rebellion and tears." —New York Herald Tribune

