Daphne Palasi Andreades

"This remarkable, deeply moving story brings you deep into the hearts and souls of a tight-knit group of friends--girls growing up in Queens, the polyglot borough of New York, where the streets sprawl for miles and echo with voices from all over the world, and the scent of bubbling oil, chopped garlic, and grilled meats waft through open windows as night comes to the neighborhood. Here Nadira, Mae, Trish, and Aisha become friends for life--or so they vow. Together they learn to survive all that the street throws at them--schoolyard bullies, clueless teachers, and the leering gaze of men who trail behind them wherever they walk. Exuberant and wild, they are daughters of immigrants from different diasporas, but in Queens their backgrounds blur and blend: they sing Mariah Carey at the tops of their lungs, pine for boyfriends who pay them no mind--and break the hearts of those who do--all while balancing the cultures they came from and the one they find themselves in. In small brick houses, their fathers snore on armchairs after long shifts, while mothers command them to be dutiful daughters, obedient young women. But as the years go by, and their own adulthood nears, choices must be made about their futures. Cracks and fissures form as some find themselves drawn to the allure of other skylines, beckoned by lovers and jobs foreign to what they knew back home. Some of the girls become wives and mothers to a new generation of brown girls; while others embark on a migration baffling to the generation before them, journeying back to the countries their parents fled for the 'better life' in America"--

A Novel

Brown Girls

Lindsay

Some of us are, in fact, that easy. Easier than we thought. This comes to us as a shock— Does this mean we’re that kind of girl now? We refasten our bras. But others of us shrug, unplagued by guilt.

A fiercely poetic coming-of-age novel following a group of young women of colour in Queens, New York.
Brown Girls dives deep into the lives of a group of young women of colour growing up in Queens, New York. Here, streets echo with many languages, subways rumble above dollar stores and the briny scent of the ocean wafts in from Rockaway Beach. Here, girls like Nadira, Gabby, Naz, Trish, Angelique, and many others, struggle to reconcile their immigrant backgrounds with the American culture they come of age in. Here, they become friends for life. Or so they vow.

Brown Girls is a blazingly original, sweeping debut novel told by an unforgettable chorus of voices.


Brown girls

I was always going to read this but I picked up right after Caleb Azumah Nelson's "Small Worlds" not on purpose but because it was short and I am trying to return as many of my library loans as possible before I am off on holiday. And what a find this is (highlighted by my local library as part of their display of Black authors and their works).

I highlighted the order of reading as the book covers a lot of similar themes as "Small Worlds", down to the visiting of the native countries of the characters' parents, but with a focus on women of colour born / living in Queens, New York. The novel, too, had exquisite lyrical prose with a quality that truly manages to wow.

The prose and the creative format - narration in first person plural - was perhaps my favourite element of this book. It is extremely effective in highlighting the common points in the experience of many non-white girls growing up and as fully-formed women of colour (I am using those broader terms as the novel includes women whose parents are from African, Arab, East Asian, South-East Asian, Latino, South American descent. I am happy to be corrected if, let's say, Korean or Chinese girls would still be considered brown). The feeling of belonging to a single hive of a community is further strengthened by the way the narration seems to exist outside of time - a whole lifetime is set within Trump's presidency (unfortunately, not his sole term), the brown girls are simultaneously 15 and 30 years old, daugthers and mothers.

There is a part where the book stalls for a bit - about the 6/8 in and then wraps up somewhat abruptly but I would still argue that this serves the novel's main thesis. Still, this is an easy recommendation for me.

I was always going to read this but I picked up right after Caleb Azumah Nelson's "Small Worlds" not on purpose but because it was short and I am trying to return as many of my library loans as possible before I am off on holiday. And what a find this is (highlighted by my local library as part of their display of Black authors and their works).

I highlighted the order of reading as the book covers a lot of similar themes as "Small Worlds", down to the visiting of the native countries of the characters' parents, but with a focus on women of colour born / living in Queens, New York. The novel, too, had exquisite lyrical prose with a quality that truly manages to wow.

The prose and the creative format - narration in first person plural - was perhaps my favourite element of this book. It is extremely effective in highlighting the common points in the experience of many non-white girls growing up and as fully-formed women of colour (I am using those broader terms as the novel includes women whose parents are from African, Arab, East Asian, South-East Asian, Latino, South American descent. I am happy to be corrected if, let's say, Korean or Chinese girls would still be considered brown). The feeling of belonging to a single hive of a community is further strengthened by the way the narration seems to exist outside of time - a whole lifetime is set within Trump's presidency (unfortunately, not his sole term), the brown girls are simultaneously 15 and 30 years old, daugthers and mothers.

There is a part where the book stalls for a bit - about the 6/8 in and then wraps up somewhat abruptly but I would still argue that this serves the novel's main thesis. Still, this is an easy recommendation for me.

Vicky (A City Girl's Thoughts)

Wow, that was a fast DNF. I don't remember off the top of my head if I've ever DNF'd a book so fast.

I'm not an expert in poetry so I can't speak about the structure or whatnot, plus I was listening to the audiobook so I can't say for sure what type of poetry Daphne is using, but my main issue is that this is a generic tribute to brown girls who are different races or come from different demographics within their race (ex: for Asians, there are the "voices" of Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Middle Easterns, etc). I don't know which Asian democraphic she's from but you CAN'T write/speak for Indians, Chinese, Japenese, Guyanese, Africans, etc if you're NOT them, plus their cultural backgrounds are VERY different! Sure there are a FEW similarities but she over estimates how much they have in common. 

Full review here: https://acitygirlsthoughts.wordpress....

Ali Angco

I didn’t expect to enjoy this but I actually loved it. Everyone should read it as an audiobook imo.

Melissa Schwartz

It feels like such a long time since I’ve given out a five-star rating. This was so beautifully written! Daphne Palasi Andreades notes the collective experience of WOC in her writing, particularly in Queens and NYC, which I really enjoyed. I’ve personally lived in Queens for a little over a year, and I’ve learned more about the borough from this story than from my own time here. I loved how it was not always clear if she was referring to potentially her own experience or someone else’s. She covers education, new and old friendships, family dynamics, growth, relationships, ignorance (often by white individuals), sexuality, and many more topics in such a poetic way. I recommend this to all!

Brown Girls A Novel

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