Date Read: July 2nd 2022 Published: 2011 Publisher: Algonquin Books Pages: 368 The Blurb With the opening line of�Silver Sparrow, �My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,� author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man�s deception, a...
Date Read: July 2nd 2022
Published: 2011
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Pages: 368
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The Blurb
With the opening line of�Silver Sparrow, �My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist,� author Tayari Jones unveils a breathtaking story about a man�s deception, a family�s complicity, and the two teenage girls caught in the middle.
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon�s two families�the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode. This is the third stunning novel from an author deemed �one of the most important writers of her generation� (the�Atlanta Journal Constitution).
Review��???? (4 stars)
Wow. There is a special place in hell for this James Witherspoon character, with Raleigh (James� right-hand man) following right after him. Just, wow.
I enjoyed Dana�s chapters way more than Chaurisse�s chapters. Since the book starts off with Dana�s chapters, I really wanted to give this book 5 stars. But as we transitioned into Chaurisse�s story, I started to not really care about her self-deprecating, under-achieving demeanor. Also, some bits of the story felt overly dramatic and almost unrealistic when we were approaching the climax of the nonsense James orchestrated.
I did love how with each of the girls� chapters, we are taken through their parents� past. The way James and Laverne (Chaurisse�s parents) met and settled down was so different from how James and Gwen (Dana�s parents) met and �settled down�. Raleigh�s past had my heart sooooo heavy, whew! Even though we are introduced to Miss Bunny briefly, I really loved her! What a woman. A true, selfless MVP.
If I had read this book when I was in my teens or 20�s, I would have judged Gwen and Dana so harshly. But since I read this while in my 30�s, I somewhat appreciate Gwen�s decisions and understand her. There is a lot of pain in this book. There are no winners or losers in this story� oh wait � James is definitely a loser in this story. There is absolutely no way that anyone can make me sympathize with such a wicked, heartless, confused, selfish man, ei! It�s so interesting how James actually thinks he�s a noble man, full of integrity because he honored both women by marrying them ; but he didn�t treat both families equally at all. How he treated Dana, especially at the end when she reveals to readers her last encounter with him was terrible.
Silver Sparrow is a really complicated 1980�s story about family, secrets and sisterhood. Social class and privilege more layers of complexity to the story. The way Tayari Jones writes about her hometown � Atlanta, and the South, shows her immense love for the region. I�m trying to understand why hair played such a large role in this book; there are many scenes in Laverne�s hair salon and Chaurisse often compared her meagre hair to Dana�s luscious mane. There seemed to be a stark juxtaposition between the girls� level of privilege with the abundance of their hair. I found that weirdly interesting.
Tayari Jones is an author I�m really beginning to love. I gave An American Marriage 5 stars back in 2020, and I do see her growth as a writer in that book.
???? (4 stars) � Great book. Highly recommend!
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