Preview of Brown Girl, Brownstones Summary:

Brown Girl, Brownstones has been described as a bildungsroman of a black female, and it is often compared to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). It is a novel of initiation that follows the life of Selina as she grows up a first generation American, the daughter of Barbadian immigrants. As she matures, she struggles to resolve the conflict between succumbing to materialism and retaining the customs, rituals, and folkways of her parents' native land, Barbados.

In developing this theme, Marshall contrasts Barbadian with American culture, and immigrant with American culture, and seems less concerned with Selina Boyce's race than with her status as a first generation American. Brown Girl, Brownstones examines the corruption and loss of identity that accompanies the obsessive pursuit of property, in this case, an obsession to purchase brownstones. Cultural assimilation and financial security replace warmth and love...